OneohEightpointNine
by twilightsgrace23
Summary: Edward leaves Bella after she is almost killed by James. She falls in love with Jacob and chooses to be with him.
1. Chapter 1 Prologue

A/N: Twilight and it's character's belong to Stephanie Meyers....

**Phoenix – One year ago**

Machines beeped all around me. I opened my eyes and looked around. My vision was blurry, _where am I? _ I thought.

"Bella?" Edward's smooth voice said from beside me. "Are you finally awake?"

"Where am I," I croaked, my dry throat made it hard to speak. I tried to sit up and groaned. Jesus, my whole body hurt, "What happened?"

"You're in the hospital Bella; don't you remember what happened?" Edward's dark eyes searched mine.

"You're hungry," I murmured, my fingers brushing his cheek.

"I'm fine," he assured me, "how about I go get your mom?"

"My mom's here?" I asked, "How? Why?"

"Yeah, she's right outside. I'll be right back." Edward disappeared out the open door; a few seconds later my mother was rushing to my bedside.

"Honey you're awake!" she exclaimed, "Oh I'm so glad your okay. You have really got to learn to be more careful." She grasped my face and kissed my forehead, brushing my hair off my forehead. "I should get your father; he's been worried sick about you. What were you thinking, rushing off in the middle of the night like that?"

Renee looked at me expectantly, "I don't know what I was thinking Mom. I'm sorry; I should have waited till the morning. Can you get dad? I'd like to apologize to him too."

Renee smoothed my hair once more, "Okay," she said, "he was down in the cafeteria a few minutes ago. I'll see if I can find him."

As she was leaving a nurse came in, "Good morning Miss Swan. How are you feeling?"

I smiled and said I was fine and she began taking my temperature and blood pressure; adjusting my pain meds. "If you need anything, just let me know," she said with a smile and was gone.

Edward came back in then. "Bella," he said somberly, "we really need to talk."

My heart began beating faster, "No, Edward, please don't. Don't say it, don't even think it," I begged.

He held up his hand, "Bella please be rational. You were almost killed because of me. Face it; you're _here_," he motioned to the hospital room, "because of _me. _ I can't live like this; the guilt, it's overwhelming. And what if something else happens; something worse? I just can't live with that hanging over my head; the knowledge that next time-"

"There won't _be_ a next time Edward," I interrupted.

"There will be a next time Bella. You can not keep denying what I am. I am a _vampire_; if I wanted I could eat tasty morsels like you for breakfast, lunch _and _dinner, and still never be satisfied. We are leaving Forks. By the time you get home, we will be gone. I won't come back, I won't contact you again. My existence will never burden yours again. "

And with that he was gone; from my hospital room, from my life.


	2. Chapter 2 Cliff Diving

A/N: Everything Twilight belongs to the goddess known as Stephenie Meyer...though I wouldn't mind owning Bella's truck..

La Push – Present Time

**BPOV**

"Jake I'm scared," I whimpered as we stood on the edge of the cliff; cool wind and ocean spraying in my face. The tumultuous ocean below me heaved and churned.

"Relax Bells; nothing is going to happen to you. We're jumping together."

Jake slid his warm hand into mine and counted out loud, "Ready, one, two, three!"

Together we dove off the cliff, wind rushed through my hair, a flag flying behind my head. Together we broke the surface of the icy water, it sucked us down, and bubbles swirled around our heads.

Jake let go of my hand and we kicked to the surface.

"That was awesome!" I exclaimed, "Let's do it again!"

Jacob laughed, "See, I told you there was nothing to worry about."

Lazily we swam to shore; Jacob shook like a dog, spraying me with water. I grabbed my beach towel and wrapped it around my shoulders. Jacob came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders, warming me instantly.

"I love you," I said, leaning my head against his chest.

"Love you too," he said, kissing my cheek, "do you really want to jump again?"

I shook my head no, "If you don't mind, I'd like to go to Emily and Sam's. Emily asked me if I could help her plan Claire's third birthday party."

"Okay," Jacob said, gathering up his towel and our clothes, shoving them into a knapsack, "there's some pack stuff I have to talk to Sam about."

Hand in hand we hiked, well Jacob hiked; I mostly stumbled and tripped, up the trail and through the woods to the parking lot where my truck was parked.

Jake drove the old Chevy to Emily's house. Saying as he got out of the truck, "you need new brakes. I'll take care of that this week."

I nodded, Jake was the only reason the Chevy had managed to live such a long life. I walked into Emily's house, "Knock, knock," I called, stepping into the kitchen.

"Bella!" Emily exclaimed.

"Hey Emily; Sam." I hugged her. Since Jake and I had started dating, Emily and I had become best friends. She wasn't Alice, that was for sure, but like Edward, Alice had left me as well.

"Where's that no good brother of mine?" Sam laughed.

I pointed toward the front yard, "Probably out there breaking my truck. He said something about brakes on the way over here." Sam kissed Emily's scarred cheek and went off in search of Jacob. Emily poured coffee and we sat at the table.

"Party list," she said, shoving a pad of paper across the table. I grabbed the paper and glanced at it. "Um, Em, you need more than a cake for Claire's party," I chided. She looked down at the table, picking at a piece of loose wood, "I know. I'm just so bad at this."

I smiled, "its okay. We'll figure it out."

**JPOV**

Behind me I heard the screen door slam. I slid the dipstick back into its place and turned to greet Sam.

"What's wrong with the Chevy?" he asked in lieu of a greeting. I let the hood fall shut. "Nothing," I said, wiping my hands on my pants, "Just making sure everything is hunky dory for my girl." Sam nodded. The Chevy had taken on a sort of life of its own; Bella's baby. She loved that truck more than her own life, and no one could persuade me otherwise.

"Jake, there's something you should know. Paul and Embry were on patrol last night and they, well, they came across a fresh vamp scent."

"Whose?" I demanded.

"We're no sure. It could be the red headed female from last year. You know the one whose mate came after Bella down there in Phoenix. She could have come looking for her friend; or it could be one of the Cullen's."

"Better not be the goddamn Cullen's. They already hurt her enough and I'll be damned if that bloodsucker thinks he's gonna get his fangs into my girl again." An intense quivering started, first in my feet; then growing, consuming me.

"Whoa, Jake calm down," Sam said, putting a heavy hand on my shoulder. The intense quivering calmed; reduced to a gently hum.

"What are we going to do Sam? I can't let them hurt her again. You saw how messed up she was when he left her in the hospital in Phoenix."

"We wait and see," Sam began. He held up a hand to stop my interruption, "We resume patrolling the woods around Forks and see what turns up. If it is the Cullen's, well there's nothing we can do about it. We have to honor the treaty. But if it's not the Cullen's, well we'll take care of it like we did a few weeks ago."

I was pacing, trying to stay calm. If the Cullen's came back from where ever they'd been for the last year, God, it would probably kill Bella.

"Look, Jake, I know this sucks. All you want is to keep Bella safe. But it's also our job to protect the rez."

I nodded knowing what Sam had said was true; it just sucked that I couldn't protect Bella until I knew what I was protecting her from.

**Reviews are more awesome that cliff diving with Jacob :)**


	3. Chapter 3 Beach BBQ

A/N Jacob Black and his hungry friends all belong to Stephenie Meyer :)

**BPOV**

"Did you and Emily get everything planned for Claire's birthday?" Jake asked me.

After we left Emily and Sam's he'd drug me to the car parts store in Hogan to get brake pads for the Chevy; and now I was lounging in the font seat of the Rabbit reading Romeo and Juliet.

"Mhmm. We ordered the cake and got balloons and Quil is going to pick up the piñata next week."

"Good. Hey babe, can you bring me that wrench?" He pointed to the tool box on the other side of the shed. I tossed Romeo & Juliet onto the driver's seat and tripped across the garage to retrieve the wrench. I handed him the wrench and sank to the floor next to him.

"Are you okay? You've been awfully quiet all afternoon."

Jake secured the caliper back in place and hefted the tire back onto the truck.

"Something happened; pack stuff," he said, taking the lug nuts out of my hand, "But it's nothing for you to worry about. I'm sure it'll blow over."

Jake finished tightening the lug nuts and lowered the truck, "C'mon, we've got to get the beach," he said looking at his watch, "Rez BBQ tonight, remember?"

He offered me his hand and helped me up. I tripped and almost crashed headfirst into the driver's side rear view mirror.

"Careful you klutz," Jake wrapped his arms around me and pressed his fiery lips to mine. I could spend an eternity kissing Jacob, he was my Phoenix in Forks; warm and brown amidst all the wet and green. He had my back against the driver's side door, when Billy called from the front porch. Jake groaned; "Pretend you didn't hear him," he said and resumed kissing me. Billy called again, and Jake, perfectly content to ignore him, did.

"Isabella Marie Swan!" Charlie called out, "I know you're in there, you and Jacob better get your asses out here."

Jake and I groaned simultaneously, "Damn parental units," I grumbled and followed Jake out of the garage.

Truth was I loved my father to death. After the fiasco in Phoenix, he let me come home and night after night he rushed to my side as I screamed myself awake, crashing back into consciousness after yet another night of those terrifying nightmares. Charlie accepted my explanation of what happened the night I ran off to Phoenix; I told him Edward had broken up with me and I couldn't stand Forks anymore, and when I got back to Phoenix I stayed at a hotel and got hit by a car after I tripped on the sidewalk and into on-coming traffic. I knew he didn't believe it, but he accepted it nonetheless.

"What were you two doing in there?" Charlie demanded as Jake and I sheepishly approached the house.

"The Chevy needed new brakes, Charlie. I was fixing them," Jake said holding up his greasy hand as proof.

Charlie narrowed his eyes, examining Jakes hands, "Go help Billy," he told us.

We trudged into the house were Billy was waiting. "Those need to go to the beach," he said pointing at two large blue and white coolers. Jacob crossed the kitchen in two steps and stacked the two coolers and lifted them like they didn't weigh a thing.

"Come on Bells."

I followed him back out into the yard. He put the coolers in the back of the truck and opened the driver's side door for me, "Your chariot," he said as I got in.

At the beach, I parked between Embry's beat up Ford Ranger and Emily's newer civic.

I jumped out of the truck enjoying the last of the sunlight. It had been an unusually sunny day, even for summer in Forks. I kissed Jake and told him I was going to help Emily cook. As I skipped off Paul stopped at the back of the truck to help Jake carry the coolers.

On the beach, Emily and Sue were sitting on plastic lawn chairs chatting about Claire's upcoming birthday.

"Hey," I said, sitting down next to Emily.

"You made it back in time!" she said. I nodded, "Jacob drives that Rabbit like he's auditioning for the Indy 500. It's terrifying. Speak of the devil."

Jacob and Paul set the coolers down next to the glowing barbeque pit, "What?" Jacob said.

"Oh Bella was just commenting on your driving ability, Jake," sue told him.

"There is nothing wrong with my driving," he grumbled.

"Yea, if your driving on the Daytona International Speedway," I muttered.

"You," he said kissing my cheek, "are lucky I love you or my feelings might be hurt."

Leah skulked by throwing nasty looks at Emily, Jacob and I. she was still pissed off about the whole werewolf thing. She blamed me most of all though, because I'd dated Edward and It was because of them that her whole life had changed. And it was because of me that Sam had changed, and imprinted on Emily, leaving Leah. So I couldn't blame her for hating me; if I turned into a werewolf because of the Cullen's and my boyfriend fell in love with another woman I'd be pretty pissed too.

Sue sighed as her daughter trudged off to sit by herself at the tide line.

"Don't worry Sue," Emily said patting her knee, "Leah will come around eventually."

While Sue fretted over her oldest child's fate as a werewolf; Emily and I began cooking pounds of hamburgers and hotdogs. We could hardly keep up as the pack devoured over half the food.

"Wow," Charlie said holding his plate out to me, I placed a steaming hamburger on the waiting bun; "Those boys have one hell of an appetite."

Emily and I looked at each other and laughed, "Yea, Dad, they sure do."

Charlie thanked me for the burger and wandered over to where Billy and Sue were sitting. Since Harry had died, Charlie had taken a real liking to Sue. He was very protective of her. Billy teased him about it to no end. Sometimes the two of them were about as mature as a couple of twelve year olds.

Once everyone had eaten, Billy added more wood to the fire sending blue flames shooting high into the dark night sky.

"All right, listen up, Sam has something he wants to say," Billy announced.

Behind me, Jake stiffened; his warm fingers had been tracing the scar James had left on my wrist, suddenly stopped. I turned to look at him; he had the look of a deer caught in the headlights.

"What's wrong?" I asked him.

Sam stood up in front of everyone, "Emily," he called, "Can you come up here too please?"

"Nothing," Jacob replied, relaxing. His fingers resumed tracing the scar.

Something was going on, something more than just 'pack stuff.' "You need to tell me what's going on," I hissed. He froze again, "What are you talking about?" he mumbled.

"Something's going on, I don't know what, but if you love me, you'll tell me." I felt guilty for pulling the 'if you love me' card, but I didn't like being kept in the dark.

"Later," he muttered.

In front of us, Sam was getting down on one knee, "Emily," he said holding a small black box in his hand, "Will you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?"

Emily squealed, "Yes!" she exclaimed, falling into Sam, "Yes, yes, yes. A million times yes!"

"Did you know he was going to do that?" I asked Jake.

He nodded sheepishly and tapped his forehead, "No secrets, remember?"

"Oh yea." I got up and joined the group fawning over Emily's engagement ring. "Congrats!" I said hugging her, "I'm so happy for you!"

I let Emily show off her ring to the rest of her friends and went to seek out Jacob.

**JPOV**

Damn it, damn it, damn it! I went to find Sam after Bella went to see Emily's engagement ring. He was sitting on the edge of the crowd talking to Paul and Quil.

"Sam," I called. He turned and motioned for me to join them.

"Hey. We're going over whose going to run patrol tonight. I think it should be you and Leah," Sam said.

I groaned, "Come on Sam. Leah? She's a pain in the ass, I'll run patrol, but not with her."

"Fine," Sam said, "you and Embry, run the woods tonight. Go as far North as the Cullen's place. See if any of them have been back there. If you find the scent, howl. One of us will hear you and we'll go from there."

"I have to tell Bella, Sam," I said.

"Not yet. Let's see what happens on patrol tonight."

"She knows something's up. If I don't tell her she'll be pissed if a Cullen just pops up on her doorstep. She'll know I knew they were back and didn't tell her."

Sam nodded, "yea, you're right. Go ahead and tell her what we know so far."

I nodded and set off to rock Bella's world.

**Reviews are better than not having to run patrol with Leah, so leave some!**


	4. Chapter 4 Victoria

A/N All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer :)

**BPOV**

Jake was quiet on the drive back to Forks that night. When he approached me after the barbecue I demand to know what was going on. He promised he would tell me as soon as we were back at my house.

We were sitting on the deck Charlie had built at the beginning of the summer. I had my head on Jake's chest as he gently rocked the hammock. In his chest, I could hear his heart racing.

"Just tell me all ready, will you. I'm sure whatever it is it can't be that bad."

Jacob chuckled darkly, "You have no idea."

"Come on", I sent poking his chest, "out with it."

Jake took a deep breath, "Okay here it is, the other night Paul and Embry were running patrol in the woods around Forks when they came across a fresh vampire sent."

"Wait! What?" I sat up too fast and the hammock dumped us both on to the deck in a heap of twisted limbs.

"Whose was it?" I demanded.

Jake extracted his legs from the tangle and sat up, "We don't know. Sam's got Embry and me running patrol tonight to see if we can find anything."

He pulled me into his lap and held me close. I felt numb. Edward had promised never to come back and I had naïvely believed that. I hope to hell it wasn't him. I never wanted to see him again.

"Oh God!"

The image of flaming red hair, crimson eyes popped into my head.

"Victoria," I moaned collapsing against Jake's chest, "she's finally come to get me."

Jacob squeezed me tight, "don't worry about it. I won't let anything hurt you. If it's this Victoria we'll take care of her. I promise Bella, I won't let her hurt you."

He wiped the tears off my face.

"Jake what if..." I trailed off.

"If what Bella?"

"What if it's not Victoria? What if it's...?" my voice trailed off again, "Edward?"

Jake was quiet for a while, "Well, I guess that depends on the bells. Do you want to see him?"

I shook my head vehemently, "Hell no. If he shows up here I am going... Well...hmm" I scratched my head.

"You're going to do what?" Jake asked.

"Well sic on him."

We laughed; "I'd gladly tear him to shreds for you. I don't know if this is okay to say, but I am glad you don't want him back. He hurt you bad Bells and quite frankly he doesn't deserve your love."

A crack of lightning lit up the sky and thunder rumbled in the distance.

"So much for summer," I said.

Jake glanced at the sky, "Welcome to forks."

The rain started coming down Jake picked me up off the deck and carried me into the house.

"I got to get going. His Charlie home yet?"

"No, he said something about staying down in La Push to help Sue with something."

"So I could do this?"

He leaned down, pressing his fevered lips to mine, my breath caught in my throat as he nipped my bottom lip with his teeth and his tongue forced its way into my mouth. I gasped into his mouth and kissed him back, my teeth grazing his top lip, I shoved my hands into his hair and pulled him closer.

Jake pulled back and gazed down at me, his brown eyes electrified, "I hate to say this, but I gotta get going or Sam will tear me a new one."

He kissed me again, "Love you."

He opened the back door and slipped out, "Love you too."

***

After Jake left, I double checked all the locks and went up to my room. I was on the edge; the news that there was a vampire in the area, the one who wanted me dead, freaked me out. I lifted the curtain and gazed out over the dark yard. My imagination played tricks on me, in every shadow something ominous lurked.

**JPOV**

_I haven't smelled anything_, Embry thought, _have you?_

_Not a thing_, I responded, _let's head north toward the Cullen crypt_.

Embry and I turned and headed through the dark forests toward the abandoned Cullen house. A quarter of a mile from the house the sickly sweet aroma of vampire burned our sensitive noses.

_Oh my God, do you smell that?_ Embry thought.

_Yeah I smell that. That's not a Cullen though_, I thought back at him.

_How do you know?_ Embry asked.

_Sam. He knows their scent. I heard it once. It was right after I changed; the Cullen's were already gone. I asked about them, and real briefly Sam remembered. I could ID their scent anywhere and that's not them._

_Should we get closer?_ Embry asked.

I backed away from the smell and sat down, the wet grass dampened by fur_. I think we should get Sam_, I thought.

Embry and I both stood_. I think that's a good idea_, Embry agreed. We turned and headed back toward La Push. Half way there I threw back my head and howled. A few seconds later I felt Sam take up a small space in my head.

_What did you guys find, _Sam asked.

_Vamp, in the Cullen house, but not a Cullen, _I thought.

_How do you know it's not a Cullen? _Sam asked.

_Because you know what the Cullen's smell like. _Sam's thought's flashed to the Cullen's smell, _and that vamp _did not_ smell like that, _I thought.

_Who is it then? _Embry asked.

_Victoria, _I told them, _the Cullen's killed her mate in Phoenix last year. We killed her friend last summer remember?_

_What's she doing here? _Sam asked, _why now?_

_It's simple, _I thought, _obviously by now she knows something happened to her friend. She probably came looking for him, and now she knows the Cullen's left Bella. Why not now? Edward's not here to protect her anymore, so now is the perfect time to extract her revenge. _

_Seems kind of meaningless now; the Cullen's left, obviously Edward doesn't care for her or else he wouldn't have left her, _Sam reasoned.

_She's a bloodsucking leech Sam; I hardly think she cares about any of that. _

_Not the point guys, _Embry interrupted, _what are we going to do?_

_We wait, _Sam told us, _watch the place, see if it is Victoria. If it is, we take her out. We have no treaty with her. I'll get Paul and Jared out here in a few hours. Are you guys okay for a while?_

Embry and I agree that we were fine and settled down under some pine trees with a good view of the deserted Cullen home. I could feel the tension rolling off Embry, _Was it easy, before, to kill the other vampire?_

When Laurent had come looking for Bella neither Quil nor Embry had changed yet. Neither Quil nor Embry had changed yet.

_Yea, it was easy. The stinking bloodsucker had no idea we even existed. He ran like a scared little girl. He was fast; but we were faster. _

We sat under the pine tree in silence for a while, staring at the house. _Do you think the Cullen's will ever come back? _Embry asked.

_I sure as hell hope not. _Thunder rumbled in the sky and the rain began to fall once more. _I think if they ever did come back, I'd kill them. Edward first, then pick the rest of them off one by one._

_That would break the treaty Jake, _Embry gently reminded me.

_Damn the treaty, _I scoffed, _they deserve to die. Not only for what they did to Bella; but for what they've done to use. _

I hated the Cullen's; I hated morphing into a giant dog and having to share my personal thoughts with six other people. I'd learned to live with what I was, but I didn't have to like it. Beside me, Embry drifted off. For a while the night was quiet; the rain quieted down to a gentle drizzle. I was starting to drift off when I heard the front door open; the hinges squeaked loudly disturbing the quiet night. One the porch a red headed vampire appeared, her pale skin stood out in the darkness.

_EMBRY!_ I called out.

_Huh? What? What's going on?_ Embry shook the rain from his fur, waking himself up.

_Vamp-on the porch. _

There was a rustle in the woods behind us. I turned swiftly, a low warning growl rumbled in my chest.

_Whoa, calm down! _Paul said.

I'd been so focused on the vampire that I hadn't heard Paul and Jared shift.

_What do we got? _Jared asked.

_Red headed vamp on the porch, Victoria…she's here for Bella, _I told them.

We al turned to look at Victoria. She leapt from the porch and stood in the moonlight that washed over the yard. She looked up at the abandoned house, laughed and then darted into the woods heading back toward Forks.

_What do you want to do Jake? _Paul asked me

_We need to get Sam, _I answered.

_There's no time for that Jake. She could get to Bella be fore we could get Sam, _Jared snapped.

I hated being second in command. Damn Ephraim Black and his leader of the pack genes. I hated the weight my decisions could hold. If someone got hurt it would be a direct result of a decision I made; or didn't make. I looked into three sets of eyes staring back at me.

_Let's go, _I finally said.

_Yes!_

_All right!_

_I feel like vampire tonight, like vampire tonight!_

The four of us darted across the Cullen's moonlight yard and into the woods behind Victoria.

_Paul, Embry, take the left flank. Jared and I will take the right, _I ordered. _Circle around and take her down. Watch y our backs and don't let her grab you. If she grabs you; you're dead._

The four of us split us and snuck up on the red head. She whirled around looking at the four of us. Growls echoed in the forest; Victoria crouched and hissed. Paul lunged at her, his teeth bared. Victoria grabbed his hind leg and tossed him in a tree. He tore a large chunk out of her thigh. There was a metallic screech and a sick thud as Paul's limp body him the ground.

"You can't beat me," Victoria hissed and lunged for Embry. Jared and I attacked her; grabbing at her arms and legs. Metallic shrieks and screams filled the night air as we tore the vicious vampire to shreds.

Later, after Paul regained consciousness, we burned the pieces. _Bella will be happy to hear Victoria's dead, _Embry said.

_Mhmm, _I agreed_, these damn vampires can't seem to stay away from her. They're like moths to a flame._

_Yea well let's just hope the damn Cullen's stay away. They've already complicated our lives enough as it is. Who knows what _you'd_ do if they came back, _Paul said to me.

_I'd kill him, _I told them.

_Sam wouldn't let you, _Embry reminded me again.

_Sam couldn't stop me, I sneered._

_Lets go him, _Jared said rising, _Paul are you okay?_

_Yea. We've got to let Sam know what's happened._

_Let's go, last one back to the rez buys breakfast, _I challenged.

**Reviews are better than tearing Victoria limb from limb :)**

**Thanks to all those who have reviewed...you guys are awesome!!!  
**


	5. Chapter 5 Claire's Birthday

A/N Emily and her bad decorating skills..as well as everyone else belong to Stephenie Meyer :)

**BPOV**

When I woke up this morning the sun was shining for the second day in a row. Normally people say the rain is a bad omen, here in Forks it was the exact opposite. The rain was normal; it's when the sun started shining for to long that things started creeping out of the woodworks.

I dropped the curtain and padded down the stairs. A quick glance out the kitchen window confirmed what I already knew; Charlie had already gone for the day.

I poured a bowl of cereal and leaned against the counter wondering what happened during Jake and Embry's patrol last night. I started imagining the worst case scenario and by the time id finished my cheerios my stomach was in knots.

I skipped the shower and threw on some shorts and a t-shirt then sped off toward La Push. I could have called but since the incident with James I didn't trust the phone. I had to see Jake, with my own two eyes; make sure he was really okay.

In the Black's front yard I skidded across loose gravel and the truck heaved forward; then snapped back. _Thank God for new brakes,_ I thought as I hopped out of the truck and inspected the damage behind me.

Billy met me at the door, "Morning Bella," he said eyeing the destruction id done to his front yard, "you in a hurry?"

I nodded, "I need to see Jake. Is he okay? He-they-vampire."

Damn stutter, I was fine until I got excited, then I'd start stuttering like porky pig.

Billy backed his wheel chair out of the door way, "He's fine. But go see for yourself."

"Thank you Billy," I said gratefully throwing my arms around him.

Billy patted my arm awkwardly, "You're okay Bella."

I had Billy to thank for just about everything. He'd convinced Charlie to let me stay in Forks after the incident in Phoenix; he'd bring Jacob over every weekend so I wouldn't be alone.

They'd come up, always saying their TV was broken or Charlie's flat screen was better for watching the Mariners beat the Yankees; or something like that.

When Jacob changed about a month after the Cullen's left, Billy told me the truth, well as much as he could at the time; there was something Jake was going thru and he just needed to some time to adjust.

Those weeks had damn near killed me. The nightmares and screaming began all over again. The abandonment I felt was worse than when Edward left. I had loved Edward, he saved me from a painful death but he betrayed me when I'd needed him the most. Jake was the one who brought me back from the edge; the one who gave me life again. He was the one who put the pieces of my broken heart back together, the one who loved me when I felt unlovable.

Then the night he showed up at my house I'd been prepared to turn him away. Cast him out just like he'd cast me out. But the agony I saw in his eyes broke my heart.

"I'm sorry," was all he said, "I can't tell you what happened, but you already know. You just have to think real hard. Think back to the day you and your friends came down to First Beach, right after you moved to Forks. Remember what we talked about. You asked about…well you know. Remember the story I told you."

We sat on the couch, Jake clutching my hand; desperately try to tell me something he wasn't supposed to tell me, something I already knew. It was confusing.

"Jake, I don't know what you're talking about."

He grabbed my face, "Please Bella, please try to remember. I need you to remember, I need you in my life. Please. I can't tell you, but if you can guess then it will be okay."

The despair in his eyes was killing me. I closed mine and thought about that first trip to La Push, to First Beach.

I remember Edward's snide comment about not falling into the ocean, Mike's pesky persistence, Jessica's joy at being squashed between me and Mike on the way down. Lauren's nasty comment about the Cullen's and Sam's mysterious reply. Jake's scary story.

"You told me about your ancestors-" my eyes popped open, "Oh My God Jacob! That story is true?! You're a-a," I lowered my voice, "a werewolf?"

Jake threw his arms around me, "I knew you'd figure it out!"

Then in a more subdued tone he said, "Yea, it's true."

* * *

I stood outside his door, my hand rested gently on the door knob.

_Just open the door. He's fine, Billy wouldn't be so calm if he wasn't, _I tried reassuring myself.

I turned the flimsy knob and pushed the door open slowly. Jacob lay sprawled across the bed, the better part of his legs hanging off the edge. His shaggy hair covered his eyes; his mouth was open and he was snoring loudly.

"Oh Jake," I sighed and threw myself onto his bed, "Oh Jake I'm so glad you're okay."

He opened his eyes, "Bells? What's wrong? Why are you crying? And why are you on top of me?"

"I'm just so glad you're okay. You didn't find anything the woods last night?"

Jacob sat up and wiped the tears from my face, "We found her; the red-headed one. Victoria," he spat.

My eyes widened, "And? What happened?"

"We killed her," he said nonchalantly, "burnt the pieces. No more psycho vampires trying to kill you."

"Thank god," I said kissing him.

* * *

The morning of Claire's birthday party dawned as wet and soggy as many mornings here often did. I had promised Emily I'd come down early to help her set up for the party.

Charlie was gone off to work so I toasted a pop tart and glanced at the newspaper Charlie had tossed on the table. I didn't bother unfolding it, the newspaper rarely held anything of interest to me.

I finished my pop tart and got dressed. When I walked into Emily's it looked like a drunken party planner had snuck in and haphazardly strung purple and white streamers from the ceiling while she and Sam were sleeping. I walked through the living room, tripping over balloons.

"Emily? It's Bella," I called, searching the small house for my friend. I heard sobbing coming from the kitchen.

"Emily?" I said placing my hand gently on her shoulder, "What's wrong?"

She jumped, "Bella!" she exclaimed, "When did you get here?"

I felt bad for her, her typically glossy raven hair was sticking up in erratic clumps; her eyes were rimmed with red. She wasn't kidding when she said she was bad at this.

"I just got here Em. What happened in the living room?"

Emily wiped her eyes with a crumpled tissue, "I did."

I couldn't help it, I snorted.

"Is it really that bad?" she asked.

I nodded sympathetically, "But we can fix it."

Two hours later the party was in full swing. It had taken us nearly that long to re-decorate. When Claire arrived with Quil in tow, she'd oohed and ahhed.

"Wook Qwil…its so pwetty," she chirped, spinning in circles under the streamers.

Behind me, a set of arms snaked about my waist, "You guys did a good job; Claire's really happy," Jake said into my ear, kissing my jaw, "And," he nodded across the room, "guess who just imprinted."

Across the room Leah stood, smiling and talking to some boy, well man I didn't recognize.

"All right!" I said enthusiastically, "Who is he?"

"Some cousin or something of Claire's. Maybe she'll be easier to deal with now all her hang-ups about Sam are out the window."

I sighed; happy for Leah, pleased with the party, ecstatic that my life was relatively supernatural free.

"Jake?"

"What Bells?"

"What will happen to me when you finally imprint?" I asked timidly. There were days that I really worried about that especially since imprinting wasn't something he could control.

"That won't happen Bella. I won't imprint," Jake said firmly.

"Why not?"

"Because, you beautifully clumsy girl. You're the only one I'll ever have eyes for."

"You know," he said when he finally stopped kissing me; "your birthday is coming up soon."

"Oh goody," I muttered. "School starts soon too," I reminded him.

"Yay! School" he said sarcastically.

"Oh come on. It'll be fun; it's your senior year. Prom...all those boys are gonna wonder how you landed an older woman."

"Nah, they already know how I landed you," Jake boasted.

"Oh yea? And how was that?" I asked.

"I'm hot," he said smugly, "a toasty one oh eight point nine."

* * *

After the party ended Jake and I stayed behind to help Emily and Sam clean up then I headed home. I pulled up the curb and shut off the roaring engine.

The earlier drizzle had turned into a downpour. I fumbled with my keys and then darted through the rain to the front porch.

Once inside, I hung up my rain coat and picked up the stack of mail and shuffled through it. Four envelopes down, between the phone bill and a police newsletter was a letter addressed to me.

I set the rest of the mail down and turned it over looking for a return address.

_Hmm, that's strange_, I thought turning the envelope back over to look at the post mark; Bangor, Maine.

That was strange. I didnt know anyone in Maine, no family, no friends. I turned the envelope over again and slid my index finger under the flap, tearing it open.

Inside was an aimlessly folded sheet of paper. I pulled the paper out and carefully unfolded it. There was one crudely written line in the center of the page:

_I've been watching you_

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	6. Chapter 6 Watched

A/N All thing Twilight belong to Stephenie Meyer :)

**JPOV**

I set the note on the table for Sam and the other pack members to look at.

"It doesn't smell like a vamp," Quil said.

"Who else could it have come from?" Leah asked.

They all looked at me expectantly. I shrugged, "I have no idea. All three of the vamps who wanted her dead are dead. Who the hell knows where the Cullen's are. Maybe it's that tool Mike Newton. He always had a thing for Bella; maybe it's from him"

I walked away from the table and away from the mysterious letter. Poor Bella could never catch a break, if it wasn't psychotic vamps that were trying to kill her it was a wacko from Maine.

"Jake, there's not much we can do. We can watch her house but if we can't figure out who sent the letter our hands are tied," Sam said.

I knew all of this, but it still pissed me off. I snatched the letter off the table and stuffed it in my pocket, "Thanks Sam."

After I left Sam's I drove to Port Angelis. Bella's birthday was coming up and I wanted to get her something nice, something that would help take her mind off the weirdness that surrounded her. I wandered in and out of stores all afternoon not finding much of anything. Later as I drove back to Forks I thought about the letter. I knew it came from Maine and was addressed to Bella rather than Isabella so whoever sent it knew her personally. Maybe I could talk to Charlie; see if he could find out where the Cullen's had disappeared to.

_I've been watching you, _God what the hell could that mean?

**BPOV**

Charlie was camped out on the couch watching some sports program. I finished making his sandwich and carried it to the living room, "Lunch Dad," I said setting the plate down on the coffee table.

"Thanks Bells. Jake coming over today?"

I picked up his empty beer can and shook it, "Mhmm. You want another?"

Charlie nodded, taking a big bite of his sandwich. I took the empty can and walked off toward the kitchen. The doorbell rang and I motioned Jake to come in.

"How's my favorite girl?" he asked kissing me briefly.

"Okay," I said, "You guys get anything from that letter?"

Jake shook his head no, "But Sam said we'll keep an eye out."

I nodded and got another beer for Charlie, "You want a sandwich?" I asked, motioning to the lunch meat on the counter.

"Here Dad," I set the beer down and went back to the kitchen.

Jake was sitting at the table, "Here," he said pushing a sandwich across the table, "Eat."

"Who do you think it could have been from?" I asked Jake as I sat toying with my sandwich.

Jake shrugged and took a huge bite of his sandwich. He chewed the swallowed hard, "I dunno Bells. Is it possible it could be from Edward?"

"I thought it didn't smell like vamp?"

"It didn't; but imagine all the human hands that handled the letter."

I nodded, that was true; but it would have been nice to know if one of the Cullen's had sent the letter.

"I wanna say something and I don't want you to get mad or upset, okay?" Jake said looking at me solemnly.

I nodded, "Okay."

"Maybe," he sighed and shoved his shaggy hair out of his face, "Maybe you should show the letter to Charlie."

I shook my head fiercely, "No. After Phoenix he'd probably freak out and threaten to send me to Jacksonville."

Jake nodded, "Okay. Maybe it was just a joke. We'll still watch the house, so don't worry okay?"

I nodded again and threw my uneaten sandwich away. I hoped to hell Jake was right; that it was just a joke.

This whole situation made me angry. I just wanted to have a normal life; go to school, make turkey sandwiches for my father, kiss my boyfriend. Was that too much to ask?

"So…I spent the afternoon trying to find you something for your birthday," Jake said nonchalantly.

I rolled my eyes, "Oh really?"

He nodded, "Yea. Did you know that you're about impossible to shop for?"

I laughed, "Why? Because I don't want anything?"

"You're a girl. Girls always want _something."_

I shrugged, "Take me to see that new alien robot movie."

Jakes eyes lit up, "Really? You want to see that?"

"Yes, it looks…_interesting" _I lied. I didn't care about my birthday or what we did; I just wanted to spend time with him.

Something woke me early the next morning. There was a noise, a scraping and the sound of something falling. I opened my eyes; my heart was pounding, and frantically looked around my room. Satisfied I was alone; I rolled over and clicked on the lamp.

Pens and pencils were scattered all over the desk, the old Tom and Jerry jelly jar I kept them in was turned on its side gently rocking back and forth.

I gasped; someone had been in my room; was in my house. I opened my door slowly and tiptoed out into the hallways.

Charlie's door was closed, a small shaft of light spilled out from under the door. I crept downstairs quietly, skipping the squeaky step, listening for any sound of movement from the rooms below me.

I tiptoed into the living room and looked out the front window. A dark colored car stopped at the stop sign on the corner, its red tail lights illuminating the silver Mercedes emblem on the trunk. I gasped, could it be? Carlisle?

The car turned, its red tail lights disappearing around the corner. It could have been a Mercedes or a Honda; it was dark and I was definitely no car expert.

"Bells? What are you doing sweetheart?"

I jumped, "Jesus Christ!" I exclaimed, "You scared me Dad."

"Sorry Honey. What are you doing?" Charlie looked concerned, I couldn't blame him, it was 5:30 in the morning and I was staring out the window like a lunatic.

"Oh…nothing; I thought I heard a noise. Come on, I'll make you breakfast."

I made fried eggs for Charlie and me and got ready for school. I grabbed my backpack from beside my bed and dug through the cluttered pocket searching for my keys.

"Where the hell are they?" I muttered, emptying the bag onto the kitchen table. I had school books, notebooks and scraps of paper and pens; but no truck keys.

I ran back upstairs and looked on my desk, rifled through the drawers; shuffling Cds and batteries out of the way; no truck keys there either.

I went back downstairs to check the hook by the back door. There were keys to Charlie's cruiser, spare house keys, and the key to an old bike chain, but no truck keys.

"Dad!" I yelled up the stairs.

Charlie appeared at the top of the stairs, tucking in his shirt, "What Bella?"

"Have you seen my keys? I can't find them," I asked him.

"You check your room?" I nodded, "The hook?" I nodded again, "And my bag. I can't find them."

"You didn't leave them in the truck did you?"

"I-" I paused; trying to remember, "I don't think so."

I went out to the truck and opened the door. I leaned in and checked the ignition, the glove box, even the visor.

"They're not in there," I told Charlie when I came back in.

He sighed, "Okay. I'll take you; just give me a minute to finish up."

On the way to school, I thought about where I could have lost my keys. The only place I'd been this weekend was Emily's. I was positive I'd put them in my backpack last night. When Charlie pulled up to the curb outside the main building of Peninsula College I got out, he rolled down the window and called to me before I headed to class, "I'll call Jack and see about getting you a new key made. If you need a ride home just give me a call." I thanked him and walked off to class.

I didn't really pay much attention to my classes. Too many strange things were going on, and nothing was adding up. There was Victoria's coming back after so long; the mysterious letter from Maine, the strange noise in my room, the possible Mercedes on the corner this morning and my missing keys. Something strange was going on; and instinct told me this was only the beginning.

**JPOV**

I sat in the Rabbit watching the woods around Bella's house. The pounding rain made it hard to see, but it was worth a shot. She'd called me at lunch and told me about the noise in her room this morning and her missing truck keys. I'd already decided that I'd be in the woods tonight watching. Whatever; whoever it was, was bound to come back sooner or later. They were intentionally trying to scare; I just didn't know why.

My thoughts drifted to Edward. It had to be him; he was the only one left. I'd already checked on Mike Newton; his mom had said he'd gotten a scholarship to USC and had left for California three weeks ago.

No one else had a grudge against Bella; the nomadic vampires were all dead; that left the Cullen's; and if it was one of them why the cloak and dagger routine?

Charlie pulled up in the cruiser; I opened the door and jogged across the soggy yard.

"Hey Jake," Charlie called balancing a pizza and a bottle of soda.

I opened the door for Bella and kissed her cheek, and took the pizza from Charlie. The three of us went inside. Something smelled and I wrinkled my nose.

"What's wrong?" Bella asked.

"Something smells. Almost like vamp." I told her.

Charlie had gone upstairs; I'd heard his bedroom door click shut. I set the pizza on the counter then I went upstairs, Bella followed behind me, holding onto the hem of my shirt.

I walked into her room and inhaled, "Someone's been in your room," I told her.

Her eyes widened, "who?"

"I don't know, Vamp I think. I can smell it, but it smells wrong." I walked further into her room and looked around. Everything looked the same; nothing was out of place. I turned, still searching. If they were here, they left her something. No point in breaking in if they weren't going to leave a message. Then I saw it, on the bookshelf, wedged between a weather copy of _Wuthering Heights_ and _Emma_ was a manila envelope.

"What's that?" I asked, pointing at the books.

Bella walked toward the bookcase and pulled on the envelope. I went and stood next to her and watched as she opened it and reached inside.

Bella gasped audibly as she pulled a stack of photos out and shuffled through them. There were photos of Bella and I on the beach, walking into her house, getting in the truck, getting out of the Rabbit. Pictures of us hugging and kissing; laughing. There were pictures from this morning, Bella in her pajamas looking out the living room window; walking out to her truck. In one photo she seemed to look directly at the camera, obvious irritation etched on her face. The last photo was of her and Charlie leaving the house this morning. She dropped the photos and they fluttered to the ground.

Bella looked at me, tears shining in her brown eyes, "Jake," she sobbed, "What's going on?"

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	7. Chapter 7 Revealed

A/N All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer...

**JPOV**

This was really starting to get out hand. Bella refused to involve Charlie, refused to even tell him what was happening. After she dropped the photos, Charlie had walked past her room on his way to the bathroom.

He paused for a moment in the doorway. "What are you two doing?" he asked, his eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"I need to read _Wuthering Heights_ for English," I lied smoothly, plucking the ratty book off the shelf, "Bella said I could borrow her copy." I held the book up stepping around Bella, blocking the scattered photos from Charlie's sight.

His face relaxed. "Oh, okay... Well, keep the door open while you two are up here," he said disappearing into the bathroom.

"Come on Bella, we've got to pick those up before your dad sees them." I bent down and started scooping the photos into a pile. Bella had this sort of numb look on her face that I immediately recognized from her post-Phoenix days.

"Hey," I said, holding her face between my hands, "it's going to be all right."

She just started at me. "Bella, I'm not going anywhere. Not now, not ever. I love you way too much to _ever_ leave you."

"That's what he used to say," Bella mumbled.

I stared meaningfully into her eyes, "I'm not him Bella. I couldn't leave you even if you wanted me to. I was serious when I told you yore the only girl I see."

She stared at me as comprehension dawned in her eyes, "You imprinted on _me?"_ she asked incredulously.

I nodded, ashamed that I'd never told her till now.

"Why didn't you ever say anything?" she asked in that same awed tone.

I shrugged, "I guess because when it happened you were still getting over Edward. I didn't want to pile too much on you. I figured I'd tell you when the time was right. You're not mad are you?"

Bella sat down on the floor, "Mad?" she said, "No. Stunned is more like it. That's just-it's, I mean-Wow!" She began picking up the pictures, studying them as she stacked them.

"Some of these are really nice," she said, showing me a few of the two of us, "If it wasn't so creepy, I mean."

I agreed. "I like this one," I said showing her one of her and Charlie. I stretched, reaching for a picture that had fallen away from the rest of the group when I saw something shiny under the foot of the bed. "What's that?" I said, reaching for it.

Beside me, Bella froze. I mentally kicked myself for saying anything. I grabbed the shiny object and held it up for Bella to see.

"My keys!" she exclaimed.

"What would you do without me?" I crowed, handing her the elusive keys.

She took them, and then looked from the keys, to the foot of the bed, to the window. Then she looked at me. I could see the gears turning in her head, "What?" I asked her.

She shook her head and continued cleaning up the photos. We quietly stacked the rest of the pictures and I put them back into the envelope and handed the sealed envelope to Bella.

She tossed them in the desk drawer and slammed it shut. "It's Edward," she said quietly.

I looked at her quizzically, "How do you know?"

She pointed to her backpack; it sat on the floor at the end of her bed, "I always keep my keys in the front pocket, and that's where I always keep my backpack." I stared at her, not understanding.

"He would come in through the window at night," she began, "after Charlie had gone to bed. This morning there was that noise. Do me a favor, act like you're going out the window, but bump the desk."

I got up and crossed the room. As I walked toward the window, I bumped the edge of the desk; the Tom and Jerry glass rattled then fell over.

"That's it!" Bella nearly shouted, "That was the noise."

I turned to look at her and go my foot caught in the strap of her backpack and bumped the desk again. "That explains the noise _and_ how your keys managed to make their way under your bed."

Bella nodded, "But he was always so graceful."

I shrugged, "It's hard to be graceful in the presence of an angel." _Especially when you're a lunatic vampire, breaking in to spy on your ex-girlfriend while she sleeps_, I thought.

Bella's face flushed. "Come on," she said standing, "I'm hungry."

I got up and followed her. She stopped and pointed at _Wuthering Heights_, "English paper; remember?"

I went back and grabbed the book from off the floor. As I followed Bella downstairs I turned the book over in my hands. She definitely needed and newer copy. Maybe I'd buy her one for her birthday.

Later that night, Leah and I sat in the woods outside Bella's house waiting for something, anything to happen. Leah was happily humming in her head. The rain from earlier had subsided a bit, and it was relatively dry under the evergreen tree where we were sitting.

_Leah? _I said.

_Yes Jacob? _She answered.

_How pissed do you think Sam would be if I killed the bloodsucker?_

_I don't know, _she answered serenely_, are you sure it's Edward?_

_Yes, Bella's sure it's him. _

_I wouldn't risk it. You know Sam is a stickler for the rules._

_I know_, I sighed.

_Don't worry Jacob; I'm sure it will all work out._

Since she'd imprinted Leah had become a whole different person. Shed become easier to be around, she was calmer, less volatile. It was a pleasant change.

_Well, _Leah said stretching_; I think I'll go check out the woods, see if I can find anything._

_We're going to have to check the Cullen house again. Maybe Edward's staying there,_ Isaid to Leah.

_Tell Sam in the morning, _she replied, disappearing into the woods_._

I stretched and watched the house. Charlie's bedroom light turned off and the house was silent. Down the street a dog barked and the rain continued. There was a movement beside me as Leah crept back under the tree. I looked at her expectantly.

_Nothing, _she said_, all's quiet on the soggy front._

I stayed the whole night. Leah left, Paul came.

_Go home Jake, _he said after he got settled under the evergreen.

_No, _I told him stubbornly_._

_Well at least get some rest. I'll keep watch._

I dozed off while Paul watched the house. As the sun was coming up, Paul left and Jared took his place. Together we watched as Charlie left in the cruiser, and then a little while later Bella left. She looked in our direction and waved as she slid behind the wheel of the Chevy.

That night I left Bella and Charlie under the watchful eyes of Sam and Embry while Paul, Jared and I ventured north toward the Cullen's house. If Edward was back in Forks maybe he was staying in his old house.

_Run the perimeter of the house, I _told Paul and Jared when we arrived_. I'll check the garage. _Paul and Jared took off toward the house and I ran off toward the garage. I knew he wasn't here; we'd have smelt him if he was, but we still had to check.

_I'm going to change back_, I told Paul and Jared. I peered through the dirty garage window. It was dark and hard to see but it didn't look like there was a car parked in there. I went around and opened the garage door. There was no car inside, I went in and looked around. A car _had_ been here recently, there was fresh oil drips on the floor. I opened a few cupboards and drawers, then left.

_No cars there,_ I told Paul and Jared once I changed back, _but a cars been there recently._

_Same here, _Jared said_, No ones here now, but someone's been here recently. _

I joined them at the foot of the porch stairs. _We should go inside, _I said. Jared and Paul looked at me like I was nuts. _I'm not going inside the lair of the bloodsucker, _Paul said disgustedly.

_Why? Are you scared Paul? _I said taunting him.

_Whatever Jacob, _he said, _I don't care what you do, but I'm not going in there._

I headed up the stairs, _well I'm going in, _I said. I changed and stepped into the abandoned foyer. I was scared shitless but I sure as hell wasn't gonna let Paul and Jared see it.

"Come one Jake," Jared whispered from beside me, "let's get this over with."

We split up and searched the house. Most of the Cullen's things had been left behind as each room I searched still contained furniture. Couches and tables covered with long white sheets. In the living room a glossy black baby grand piano stood in the corner, its white slip cover sat folded on the edge of the bench.

"Jacob!" Jared called from somewhere above me.

I bound up the stairs, "Where are you?" I called out.

"Down here," Jared called from a room at the end of the hall.

I pushed the door open and went inside. Jared was standing in front of a glass wall or one huge window. There were photos taped to the window. Photos of Bella from a year ago; in some shots her leg was still encased in the cast. The depression she'd felt at the time was written plainly on her face.

I looked at the rest of the photos; they seemed to go in chronologically order. As I moved further down the line, the cast disappeared, the depression lessened.

I got to one, it was a picture of me and Bella; it was the first time she'd smiled since Edward left.

It was late August and we were washing the Chevy in the driveway of her house. I had a sponge in my hand and Bella had snuck up behind me, dousing me with the hose.

I had yelped like a girl and she had laughed, falling to the ground with the hose in her hand; I could still remember the sound it. I walked the rest of the way down the wall. I was appalled that he'd been privy to so many moments of her life; our life. It pissed me off and made me sick all at the same time.

Jared had been quietly standing in the doorway while I inspected the photos.

"Come one," I said quietly, "I can't stand to be in here anymore." I pushed past him, down the stairs and out the front door. I didn't bother with clothes; I changed and ran back towards Forks and Bella.

_Calm down Jake, _Sam said in my head, _everything here is fine. Bella doesn't need to see you this way._

_But Sam you didn't see all those photos-it was…God I don't even have a work for how sick and twisted that was. _ I continued on towards Forks.

_Go home Jake, _Sam ordered, _you need clothes; unless you plan on knocking on the Chief and Bella Swan's door completely nude. _

Embry snickered_, Think of the look on the chief's face; it'd be priceless. _

The others laughed.

_New pants, _Paul said

_$25_, Jared finished

_Showing up naked on your girlfriend's front porch_, Paul said

_Priceless, _the others roared with laughter_. _I had to admit it was funny.

_Okay, _I told Sam, _I'll go home and get clothes. But I'll be back._

Forty-five minutes later I pulled, fully dressed, outside Bella's house. The Chevy wasn't in the driveway, but Charlie's cruiser was there so I rang the doorbell.

Charlie opened the door, "Hey Jake, come on in."

I followed Charlie into the living room and sat down on the couch; Sports Center was playing on the TV. We sat there watching the show for a few minutes. When a commercial came on I asked the one question that could unravel this whole mystery.

"Uh, Charlie, could I ask you something?"

Charlie muted the TV and turned to me, narrowing his eyes suspiciously, "What's up Jake?"

"Do you, uh, could you-um, if you needed to, could you find someone? Could someone you work with do that?"

"Well," he said, "It would depend on who you wanted to find."

"Oh. Well, let's say I wanted to find out where the Cullen's went after they moved away from Forks. Could you find them?"

Charlie's face tensed, "The Cullen's?" he repeated.

I nodded, "Is there anyway you could find them? I mean you're a cop and all. I figured it'd be easy for you. To find them I mean."

"Jake, I already know where they are." Charlie took a long swallow of his beer, "There was an article about Dr. Cullen in the newspaper the other day. They're out in Maine somewhere."

"Bangor?" I asked.

"Yea, that's it. Carlisle helped find some hikers who got lost in the woods or something. The only reason they were in the paper was because one of the hikers was from Seattle. It's a good thing Bella doesn't read the paper. I left it on the kitchen table by mistake. God only knows what that would have done to her. Don't you say a word about this to her, you hear me?"

I nodded and Charlie turned his attention back to Sports Center. So, I thought, that explained the letter. The Cullen's lived in Maine, and Edward had been watching her since he supposedly left, and now he was making his presence known.

**So I hope you guys aren't mad about Jacob imprinting on Bella. I was kinda bummed he didn't when I first read the series...so please don't be mad...okay :)**

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	8. Chapter 8 Happy Birthday

A/N Twilight & all its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer

**BPOV**

I opened my eyes to see the sun shining through my bedroom window.

"Happy Birthday," a quiet musical voice said from the rocking chair behind me. I rolled over slowly, my heart pounding, and choked on my own scream. Sitting in the rocking chair was Edward. The early morning sun was making his pale skin sparkle like red carpet at the academy awards.

I awoke with a start and immediately rolled over to check the rocking chair. No sparkling vampire occupied it; the sun wasn't even shining.

Thank God, I thought, breathing a huge sigh of relief.

I lay in bed a while longer thankful that it was Saturday. Once my heart stopped racing and my hands had stopped shaking, I hopped out of bed and went downstairs.

I heard pans banging and Charlie cursing at something in the kitchen. I stood in the doorway and watched as he set a frying pan on fire; acrid smoke and the stench of burnt eggs filled the kitchen. I grabbed the fire extinguisher and doused the flames.

"Thanks Bells," Charlie said, embarrassed.

I surveyed the mess he'd made, "Dad, what are you doing?"

Charlie looked around sheepishly, "Well damn it, I was _trying_ to make you a birthday breakfast."

I smiled and hugged him, "Aww, thanks Dad."

"Well now, you're welcome. Go get dressed; I'll take you to the diner for breakfast."

The diner was Charlie's favorite place to eat. He came here everyday for lunch, even though I made him lunch everyday. I think if they'd let him, he'd sleep in the back room. The diner was mildly crowded this morning, a row of old men were perched on their stools at the counter with their coffees and newspapers spread out in front of them; passing sections back and forth like old women at a book swap. Charlie led the way to _his_ booth and sat down. Pam, the diner owner's daughter greeted us, "Good morning Chief; Happy Birthday Bella." I smiled and mumbled my thanks and we ordered our breakfast.

"So where's Jake taking you tonight?" he asked pouring creamer into his coffee.

"Port Angelis," I said playing with my straw.

Charlie nodded, "What are you guys gonna do?"

"We are going to see that new movie about robot aliens," I rolled my eyes.

"Jeez, it was real nice of Jake to let you pick," Charlie said sarcastically.

"I _did_ pick, Dad."

"Oh. Okay. Why do you want to see _that? _I didn't take alien robots to be your thing._"_

"Jake wants to see it. Really wants to see it. He's been talking about it forever; it'll make him happy. And besides, there's really nothing else I want to see."

As Charlie got up to pay the bill, Craig Schaffer, our neighbor from across the street approached him, "Uh Chief, I hate to interrupt your breakfast, but can I speak with you for a minute?"

Charlie looked at me, "Go," I said, waving him away.

He and Craig moved toward the bathrooms. I could hear Craig going on about stolen clothes; his high pitched voice making it easy to hear him over the noise in the diner.

"Calm down Craig," Charlie said slipping into his official Chief voice, "I can't help you if you can't calm down and tell me what's going on."

Craig lowered his voice and continued his tale of woe. When Charlie came back to the table he looked irritated.

"You ready?" he asked. I nodded and scrambled out of the booth after him.

"Is everything okay?" I asked once we'd gotten into the cruiser.

"No. Damn kids broke into Craig's house; twice. Said they stole some of his clothes."

Jakes voice floated through my head, "_I can smell it, but it smells wrong."_

If Edward had broken into the Schaffer's and stolen Craig's clothes that would explain why it smelled wrong to Jacob; I chewed on my lip, why couldn't he leave me alone? Why did he have to come back now? Why even bother coming back at all? By the time Charlie pulled up to the curb I was beyond pissed.

"Sorry Bells," he said, "I gotta go down to the station and file that complaint for Craig."

"It's okay Dad, I understand. If you're not back by the time I leave, I'll see you when I get home."

"Okay kiddo. Have fun; and happy birthday."

I stood on the sidewalk and waved to Charlie. After he turned the corner I stalked off toward the woods. I stood in the yard and yelled out, "EDWARD CULLEN!" at the top of my lungs.

The woods were quiet, "I know you're out there; watching me, breaking into my house, my neighbor's house." I stood there enraged, but hoping Edward didn't come strolling out of the woods. Maybe if Jake was with me I could face him, but I definitely didn't want to do it alone.

"You're a coward," I yelled, "Stay out of my house. Stop taking pictures of me. Just leave me the hell alone!"

I turned to go back inside when I saw Jake leaning against the hood of the Rabbit.

"Feel better?" he called.

I sat down on the hood next to him, "I don't know if he's out there, but yea. I feel better. As a matter of fact," I climbed onto his lap, facing him, "I can show you how much better I'm feeling."

Jake grabbed my waist, his mouth hovered above mine.

"How much is that?" he asked, his warm breath washing over my face.

I leaned down and grasped his face between my hands; my eyes locked on his, and pressed my lips to his. I felt the warmth, and moved my lips, our tongues touched, moving in a harmonized rhythm. I moved my hands from his face and raked them through his hair, twisting strands around my fingers, pulling him closer, deepening the kiss.

Jake submitted and leaned back against the windshield pulling me back with him. He pulled me closer to him, my breath caught in my throat, my pulse raced, the only thing I could hear was my blood roaring in my ears, I couldn't breathe and I was starting to get dizzy. Jacob pulled his head back and looked at me, "Happy birthday," he said laughing.

I laughed too; here we were, making out like two horny teenagers on the hood of his car in the middle of the street. I kissed his red and swollen lips.

"You ready to go?" he asked.

I slid off his lap and onto the ground, "Yup. I just want to grab my coat."

Jake threw his arm around my shoulders, "Grab a blanket too, and your keys. There's supposed to be a meteor shower tonight."

I grabbed the faded afghan off the back of the couch and my keys. "That's cool. Will we be able to see it?" I asked, sliding my arms into my coat.

"It's supposed to be clear tonight. We'll park down at the beach and see if we can see it."

I handed Jake the keys and he opened the passenger door for me. As we drove to Port Angelis he asked why I'd been screaming at the woods.

"I'm just tired of it. You know if he's gonna hide out in the woods and take pictures of me, find. There's nothing I can do about it; but he doesn't have to send them to me. There's no point. I mean all he's doing is showing me how happy I am with you." I grabbed Jakes hand, "it just doesn't make any sense."

Jacob listened quietly, letting me vent, "Maybe I should just go out there and tell him to leave me alone."

Jacob tensed, "Maybe we should just forget about it for today. It's your birthday; you shouldn't be bothered by all this."

I had quietly endured the alien robot movie. It turned out to actually be pretty good. As we were walking back to the truck Jacob asked how I had liked it.

"It wasn't as dumb as I thought it would be. Though there were some parts that didn't make any sense."

"Didn't you see the first one?"

I shook my head, "Nope. I didn't even know that was part two."

"Bells, it was called Diesel Machination _2." _

I blushed. "I didn't pay much attention to the name," I said sheepishly.

"You're a tard," he said throwing his arm around my shoulder.

"I know you said you didn't want anything; but I saw it in the used bookstore and it was too good to pass up." Jacob opened the truck and pulled a square package out of the folds of his coat.

"Here," he said, handing it to me.

It was shaped like a book; a thick, heavy book. I tore the paper off and looked at the cover. It was a copy of _Wuthering Heights. _

"Check out the inscription."

I opened the book and flipped to the first page. Scribbled in a foreign language was, '_Al mio Bella sul suo compleanno. Ti amo.'_

I looked at Jake, "What's it say?"

"To my Bella on her birthday. I love you. I had to ask the clerk in the store what it meant. I thought it was fitting. Your favorite book with a personalized Italian inscription."

I ran my fingers over the indented words; tears welled up in my eyes, "Thank you. I love it. I love you."

"You're welcome. I'm glad you like it."

I held the book to my chest and got into the truck. Jake went around and got in, "You hungry?"

I nodded and we stopped for tacos on our way back to First Beach.

There were a few people already in the parking lot, and even more out on the beach even though it wasn't quite dark yet.

"I think we'll hang out up here," he said and spread the afghan down in the bed of the Chevy. I climbed in and rested my head on his chest. I stared up at the twilight sky.

"Okay, I know we said we weren't gonna talk about this, but I know why you said you could smell vamp but it smelled wrong. He's been stealing clothes from my neighbor. Craig came up to Charlie this morning while we were having breakfast at the diner."

"Well that makes sense. He's trying to mask his scent. He knows we're together; he was trying to throw me off. How many times has he broken into your neighbors?"

"Twice. Craig said that he thought some neighborhood kids broke in and stole his clothes. So as far as I know, Edward's definitely been in my room twice; the morning he bumped my desk, and then again later that same day when he left the pictures."

"The letter came from him too," Jake said quietly.

"How do you know?"

"The other night I asked Charlie if he could find them for me. He said he already knew where they were. Seems Carlisle was in the paper the other day for rescuing some missing hikers in the woods near Bangor."

"You told Charlie?!?!" I couldn't believe he'd done that after I adamantly told him not to.

"No, I didn't. I _just_ asked him if he could find people since he's a cop and all."

"Damn it Jake. I said not to involve Charlie."

"Bella, he's been watching you since you got home from Phoenix. There was a year's worth of pictures taped to the wall in his bedroom. What was I supposed to do? Sit back and wait for the son of a bitch to drag you out your bedroom window one night? This has got to stop; he's gone crazy or something and its not gonna be much long till he does something really drastic. And I'll be damned if you think I'm going to sit idly by while it happens."

I wiped away my tears with the sleeve of my coat, "Your right," I sniffled, "I'm sorry. I'm just scared. I don't like being stalked. It's not fun."

**EPOV**

I wasn't supposed to be on Quileute land but a damn werewolf was hugging and kissing on _my_ girl; their damn treaty could go straight to hell. I raised the camera to my eye and gazed through the viewfinder. Beautiful Bella with moonlight in her hair entered the frame. I clicked off a few shots; I'd have to wait till later to develop them, but hopefully her pet dog had stayed out of the frame. He was really beginning to become rather irksome. Him and his little friend in my room, touching my photos. It pissed me off. But tonight I just watched. His time was coming. Once Bella saw me, she'd drop him like a bad habit. I lowered the camera and turned to head back toward my house.

_Damn vampire had to go and ruin her birthday…just wait till I get my hands on him_, Jacob thought.

I chuckled, a low menacing sound. _In your dreams pup, _I thought, _in your dreams. _

**You guys totally rock for not biting my head off about the Jacob imprinting on Bella...now to answer a few questions…**

**If Jake imprinted on Bella, shouldn't she automatically be feeling the same for him?** IMO...No...before he turned werewolf, Jake was always there for Bella, then after he imprinted on her he would still be there for her, his loyalty to her would have just been deeper…she knew he cared about her, why else would he stay with her, but nothing else really would have changed. With that kind of loyalty its hard not to fall for Jake.

**How is he masking his scent?**

Hopefully this chapter answered that question

**Is he in her room every night?**

No. He was in her room the night he bumped the desk, and then later that day…when he left the photos

**Why did he screw up last night? **

I know you shouldn't assume, but I'm guessing you mean, why did he bump her desk? He did that on purpose…I can't tell you why right now (it would spoil the story) but there was a reason for bumping the desk..

**Why is he suddenly making himself known? **

I swear I will answer that...in due time…

_And please forgive my Italian...its a bit rusty_


	9. Chapter 9 Madness

A/N Twilight and all its awesomeness belong to Stephenie Meyer

**Bangor, Maine**

**APOV**

I paced in front of the bay window waiting for Carlisle to get home.

"Alice, please sit down and relax."

I felt the calmness wash over me, "Damn it Jasper, cut that out. This is serious."

"Edward's a big boy Alice. Let him make his own mistakes," Jasper said from the couch.

"I will not sit idly by while he- well I just won't do it."

"Do what?" Rosalie asked as she walked into the living room. She snatched the remote from Jasper's hand and flipped to The Hills.

"Let Edward ruin Bella's life," I snapped at the two of them.

"Oh we're back to _that_ again?" Rosalie said in a snobbish tone. She plucked a golden strand of hair off the shoulder and inspected the ends.

"She's my friend," I said defensively, turning back to the window.

"Really Alice? When's the last time you spoke to Bella Swan?"

I opened my mouth to retort, and then snapped it shut.

"That's what I thought," Rosalie said pointedly.

"I only did what Edward wanted us to do," I said in a small voice.

"Abandon your best friend?"

"No! Edward said it was best for her to have a normal life; away from us. I was just trying to respect his decision."

Rosalie snorted, "Yea, okay. If that's what you tell yourself Alice."

I turned my back to her and Jasper, who'd sat there watching the exchange like it was the most fascinating tennis match he'd ever seen; and continued staring out the window.

I didn't know exactly what was going to happen, Bella's involvement with the werewolf had made crucial bits of my vision almost indiscernible, but the gist was clear enough. There was going to be a confrontation; someone wasn't going to make it out alive.

I loved Bella like a sister; but I loved my brother more.

Carlisle's dark Mercedes wound its way down the drive way and came to a silent stop outside the front door. I stood and watched as she calmly climbed the porch stairs. He hung up his coat and came to stand in the doorway.

"Carlisle- Edward, he's-" I burst out.

Carlisle held up a hand to silence me and eyed Jasper meaningfully. Once again calmness washed over me.

"Damn it, _do not_ try to placate me," I shouted.

"Alice, if you'd calm down for a minute I would be able to tell you that I talked to Edward after you called me and he insisted everything was fine. As a matter of fact he said he was coming home for a visit."

"No Carlisle," I insisted, "he's lying to you. I know what I saw. He's _not_ coming home. I don't care _what_ he says."

"Alice, please. If Edward wants to stay in Forks, he's free to do so. We might be his family, but we can't force him to do anything he doesn't want to do. If he doesn't want to come home, we can't make him."

Carlisle walked away then. Just headed upstairs like my vision didn't matter. Rosalie smirked at me from the couch.

"Bitch," I snarled at her and stalked out of the room.

Carlisle could be so blind when it came to Edward. His first son, _favorite son,_ I thought viciously, could do no wrong in his eyes.

I flew up the stairs and slammed my bedroom door a little too hard. The wooden frame splintered, pieces of mahogany wood rained down on the fluffy white carpet. I grabbed a suitcase and started throwing clothes in. _I guess it's up to me to save the day, _I thought as I added more clothes to the suitcase.

Jasper gently opened the door, "What are you doing?" he asked quietly.

"Saving Edward's sorry ass since no one else seems to care about what he's planning. _I'm _not going to be the one to look at Esme and know I did nothing to save him."

"I'll go with you," Jasper offered, making a move to grab a suitcase.

"No," I snapped, "Ten minutes ago Edward was a big boy who could solve his own problems. So no, you will not go with me."

I slammed the suitcase shut and rushed down the stairs. Jasper followed closely behind me, "Alice, come on, you're being unreasonable."

I threw the suitcase into the trunk of my car and slid behind the wheel, ignoring Jasper.

"Alice, come on."

I ignored him and reversed out of the garage, "I'll be back in a few days," I called as I zipped down the driveway.

**La Push, Washington**

**JPOV**

I couldn't wait to be done with high school. I had jinxed myself when I'd lied to Charlie about needing _Wuthering Heights_ for a school report.

Mr. Hansen had sprung that one on us this morning. The whole class had groaned, myself included. I wasn't looking forward to reading the dusty old book.

After school I'd gone into my room and flopped down on my too small bed. Dragging the book off the bedside table I opened it to the first chapter and began reading. It was pretty boring; I had no idea how I was going to read all 34 chapters.

I closed the book and put it back on the table. I looked at the clock; it was only 3:30 in the afternoon. I lay back and put my arm over my eyes.

I was exhausted; Bella and I had lain in the back of the Chevy watching the meteor shower until two in the morning. I'd been reluctant to take her home because I knew, snuggled up in the bed of the Chevy, she was safe.

I must have fallen asleep because when I opened my eyes the sun was low in the western sky. I rolled out of bed and opened the bedroom door.

The sickly sweet stench of vampire came wafting down the hall. I barreled down the hallway; fully prepared to tear them apart, limb from limb.

I walked into the small living room and came face to face with Edward Cullen. He was standing in front of the open front door staring at me. I stood there staring back at him. What were you supposed to say to the person whose very existence had ruined your life; then made it worthwhile?

"You don't need to say anything dog. Bella is mine-"

"Was yours," I corrected.

"No matter. She will be mine again. She needs a man to take care of her, not some four legged furry abomination."

"Says the _vampire. _Get out of my house before I kill you once and for all."

Edward disappeared before my eyes.

I sat up so fast I fell out of bed, bumping the bedside table, knocking _Wuthering Heights_ to the floor beside me.

God, it was just a dream. I wiped the sweat from my forehead and looked at the window. It was dark out. The glowing red numbers on the alarm clock read 6:45. I reached out and picked up the fallen book. There was a slip of paper sticking out of the book, I pulled on the paper and opened it.

It was a handwritten note.

_You still call for me. Wonder what your dog would think of that?_

I crumpled the note. I'll tell you what I think of that, I thought as I shoved the crumpled note into my pocket. Then it dawned on me…the reason behind the pictures; and I felt stupid for not realizing it sooner.

**Forks, Washington**

**APOV**

I turned down the private lane that lead to the old white house by the river. From up at the house I heard Edward yell, "Go home Alice."

I parked in front of the house and got out of the car, "This is my home, you idiot," I called out and walked up the steps.

Edward was sitting behind the piano, plucking out the notes to the lullaby he'd written for Bella all those months ago. The notes hung eerily in the air, sounding more befitting for a horror movie rather than the beautiful lullaby it was.

"What are you doing here Alice?" Edward asked disgustedly.

"You need help Edward."

"The only help I need is getting rid of Jacob Black."

"Edward, you can't get rid of Jacob. It won't solve a thing. Bella isn't your future anymore," I told him sadly.

"How do you know?"

"Because her future changed the second you walked out of that hospital room in Phoenix last year. Her future is blurry now, and it's not because I'm unsure, but because of Jacob Black. She belongs to him now Edward."

"Futures can change, remember?"

I thought of my vision of Bella, her naturally brown eyes now a vivid crimson; a vampire, like us.

"My point exactly," Edward said wryly.

"It doesn't matter Edward. You left her, that's all that matters to her. Just let it be."

"But Alice, once she finds out I never left her, she'll forgive me," Edward said adamantly.

I sat down on the piano bench next to him. I have no idea if it's possible for a vampire to go crazy, but that's exactly what Edward looked like. He looked like he had lost his mind and had gone stark raving mad.

"I know she forgive me once she knows I didn't leave her; not really."

"Edward," I said cautiously, "What do you mean, you never left her?"

**You guys make my day with all the awesome reviews! **

And I hate to be the bearer of bad news...but the book wasn't from Edward...I never even thought of that possibility..but it definitely would have been creepy :)

& to !-- /* Font Definitions */ font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:1; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:0 0 0 0 0 0;} font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ , , {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} 1 {page:Section1;} -- mythicalpolitician...are you pulling a creepy spyward and spying on me? Its like your one step ahead of me..lolz

& one more thing...thank The Promise by The Cure for Creepy Edward..the music to that song is creepy..and the lyrics are totally fitting...at least for Bella..


	10. Chapter 10 Catalyst

A/N Stephenie Meyers may own Edward Cullen...but we all know crazy Edward is waaaay better :)

**APOV**

I sat on the piano bench looking expectantly at Edward.

"Well?"I said after a very pregnant pause, "What do you mean you never left her?"

"I mean what I said. I never _really_ left her." Edward looked at me like I was dumb and continued playing the eerie version of Bella's lullaby.

"Edward you're not making any sense. Of course you left her; we all did. You came to Maine with us and Tanya said you'd been to Denali to see her. You weren't here so how did you _not_ leave Bella?" I was really starting to think he'd lost his mind; that he was delusional.

"How long did I stay in Maine?" he asked me.

I shrugged, "I don't know, two weeks?"

"Precisely. I came back here after Bella came home from Phoenix. I'd sit in her room at night and listen as she cried and screamed." Edward looked down at the piano keys. The ghosts of past mistakes floated to the surface of his dark butterscotch eyes.

I was appalled to say the least. "Edward that's…" I trailed off, not knowing what to say.

"Perverted? Masochistic? Tell me about it. About a month after she came home, I stopped going to her room. I couldn't bear the screaming; knowing I was the cause of it. I started photographing her instead. You can't hear the screams from a photograph. I turned a spare room into a darkroom. Playing this wretched thing stopped being my salvation a long time ago." He slammed his hand down on the ivory piano keys, breaking them. The piano screamed out an eerie howl that echoed off the empty walls.

"Edward, you're _stalking_ her. Sneaking into her room, taking pictures of her; it's like that bad Robin Williams movie from few years ago. It's beyond creepy…not to mention wrong."

I got up from the piano bench and dusted the crushed ivory from my jeans. I walked to the window and looked out over the yard, wishing for a fleeting moment that things could go back to the way they were.

"It'd be nice wouldn't it? The way things _were." _Edward sighed.

"Why'd you do it Edward?" I asked, suddenly very tired.

"I couldn't leave her. Victoria and Laurent were both still out there; who knew how long until they came for her. I couldn't leave her to deal with that alone." Edward plucked out a new tune on the remaining piano keys; it was high pitched and haunted.

"That's not what I meant," I said to him, still staring out the window.

"I know," he replied, still plucking away at the piano, "I didn't want to be the one who ruined her life. James could have killed her; would have killed her if I hadn't been there to stop it. I couldn't subject her to that again."

I didn't say anything for a while. "Did they come back for Bella?" I finally asked.

Edward's tune changed back to Bella's lullaby, "Yes. Laurent came back first. I found out when I went to Denali. Tanya said he'd left after abruptly after being contacted by Victoria. I came back here as fast as I could. The wolves got to him before I had the chance."

I nodded, "And Victoria?"

"They got her too. Apparently she came here looking for us while I was in Maine." Edward said, weaving Esme's tune into Bella's.

"So why didn't you leave?"

"Because she's still not safe; because the dog imprinted on her. And he's just as dangerous as the damn vampires were. Probably more dangerous; young werewolves can't control themselves. She could be hurt if he loses his temper in the slightest."

I glanced at him over my shoulder, "Your nuts." I said seriously. "I didn't think it was possible but you've gone bananas. You didn't stay because Jacob's a werewolf, now out with it, tell me the _real_ reason."

I sat down on the still covered couch and looked at Edward expectantly. Part of him stayed because he felt Bella wasn't safe with the wolf, but Edward was deeper than that, there was an underlying reason.

"I stayed because she fell in love with him," he said sadly.

I didn't understand, of course she fell in love with Jacob Black; he worshipped her. It wasn't an easy thing to ignore.

"I went to see her one night about nine months after the…_incident_ in Phoenix. I shouldn't have, but I did. When I went to leave I kissed her forehead and she called out for Jacob; not me." Edward stood and started pacing, "if I had a heart it would have broken," he said forlornly.

"So I started going back, night after night; she only wanted Jacob. It was my own personal purgatory. I was sentenced to watch the girl I loved, the one I'd waited a century for, fall in love with someone else. It was a catalyst, set in motion by my own hand. I was the cause of my own undoing."

If I'd been human, I would have wept for what Edward had lost; I could only imagine his suffering. I don't know what I would do if I ever lost Jasper. I'd probably go just as crazy as Edward apparently had.

He paused, letting all he'd said sink in for a moment; then continued his story. "Right after graduation I went to see her. I sat in her rocking chair, watching her sleep right up until dawn. When I went to leave she called out in her sleep."

"What did she say?" I asked, now truly curious.

"_No, Edward. Don't. _I thought she was asking me to stay. Like she knew I'd come to see her. I sent her a letter when I came home a few weeks ago. And I still go to see her sometimes. Not so much anymore, she kinda reeks. I bumped her desk one night and she called to me. I knew then that she still loved me. I left her some pictures, and a note."

"What kind of pictures?"

"Pictures I took of her; pictures of her and the dog and sometimes her and Charlie. And sometimes just her," Edward sounded almost proud.

"And the note? What did it say?"

"I just told her that she still calls for me. If she still calls for me she can't be that much in love."

I had a hard time controlling my thoughts. If I thought the wrong thing I could never get him to abandon this psychotic mission he was on, "What was the point of leaving her those things Edward? What was it supposed to prove? How much better off she is with Jacob Black, because I can bet you that exactly what she's thinking right about now."

"I was trying to show her how unhappy she was. That she didn't love him the way she loved me." He sounded like a stubborn two year old that was refusing to take his afternoon nap.

"Edward, you have got to stop this. I know what you're going to do. If you break the treaty and go on Quileute land _all of us_ will be in danger; and those wolves _will_ kill you."

"Let them try," he scoffed.

"Okay, well what if she doesn't want you? What then?" I was desperately trying to change his mind; I already knew what his contingency plan was.

"Italy," he simply said.

"And if the Volturi won't end your life? They are friends of Carlisle's and will be leery to destroy one his 'children'." I knew I was grasping at straws; the Volturi could care less whom belonged to whom.

"Then I'll will pull a stunt so fantastic they'll have no choice _but _to destroy me," he said smugly.

I got up off the couch and growled at him, "You're so damn pigheaded. She's just a _girl. _There are _thousands, _no more like _millions_ of them. Pick one of _them."_

"I don't want them," Edward said in his stubborn toddler voice, "I want Bella."

**BPOV**

Jakes call had scared me. He sounded beyond freaked out. "What's wrong?" I asked him.

"Nothing…I just had this totally realistic dream that Edward showed up in my living room and told me to leave you alone. I woke up on the floor of my bedroom. In all my flailing around I knocked _Wuthering Heights_ to the floor."

"Uh, okay," I had no idea how knocking _Wuthering Heights_ to the floor was relevant to the conversation.

"There was a note inside the book," Jake said meaningfully.

"Um, okay. I probably used an old piece of paper as a book mark. No big deal."

"Bells, it was from _him." _

"Oh. Oh! What did it say?"

"I'll be up in a few minutes. We can talk about it then."

I hung up the phone and went to the living room. Charlie and Billy were watching a Mariner's game on the flat screen.

"Jake's on his way up," I told them as I sat down. Billy looked at me knowingly, "Lazy bones finally got him self outta bed, eh?"

I smiled and nodded at Billy, "yea. He's been real tired lately."

"Your keeping him out all hours of the night Bells?" Charlie joked.

I rolled my eyes at him and picked up my new copy of _Wuthering Heights_ Jake had given me for my birthday and opened it. I read the inscription again, then opened the book to the first chapter and immersed myself into Catherine, Edgar and Heathcliff's strange love triangle.

I was so engrossed in the story I didn't hear the doorbell ring. Charlie got up and answered the door, then came back with Jacob. He sat down next to me on the love seat, "I don't know how you can read that," he said in my ear.

"What? Why? This book is amazing," I raved.

"Yea, amazingly boring," Jacob scoffed.

"Shut up, you," I said poking him.

He laughed and wrapped his arms around me. I hummed in content. It was warm and safe here in my little house, with my sports fanatic father and my whole world wrapped around me.

"Come on," I said closing the book, "let's go upstairs."

We walked out of the living room, "Door open!" Charlie called around the corner.

"I know," I grumbled as I trudged up the stairs. Jake stretched out on my bed; I lie down next to him and put my head on his chest.

"Tell me about this note," I finally said.

"It just said that you still call for him. He wondered what I would think of that," Jake replied with a yawn.

"I still call his name?" I said in a small voice.

"I guess so, if his not is to be believed," Jake sounded like he didn't believe it.

"I still have nightmares sometimes," I confessed.

"I know. Your dad told me. He said sometimes you start whimpering and calling out. Yelling no and don't."

I got up and walked to the window and gazed out at the rain slicked street.

"What am I going to do? This is has got to stop. He needs to understand that what we had is gone and he needs to understand that I love you; not him."

I went and sat back down on the bed. Jacob pulled me down next to him. I laid my head back on his chest. I lay there, listening to his heart beat lull me to sleep. I hadn't been sleeping well lately. Every time I closed my eyes a nightmarish version of Edward was waiting for me. I could see his bronze hair in a wild, frenzied halo above his hardened angels face. The purplish bruises under his eyes had darkened, matching his black, hungry eyes.

I stretched and let my eyes drift shut, listening to Jacob's heart beat. He ran his fingers through my hair.

"We could go out there. You and me; the pack. You can tell him whatever it is you want to say to him," Jacob offered.

"Really?" I said.

"Sure. Its too bad we don't know where it is that they live in Bangor, we could go out there and ask them to please come and collect their psycho."

I giggled, "Maybe he had a bad deer."

"Mad deer disease," Jacob crowed.

The bed shook with our laughter, "Someone must have had their Crazy Flakes for breakfast," I gasped.

Jacob laughed, "What the hell are Crazy Flakes?"

"They're a crazy person's version of Frosted Flakes," I said giggling.

"You've got a real talent at driving men mad, don't you Bella?" Jacob joked.

My sides were aching, "okay," I gasped, "enough of the uber lame crazy person jokes."

"So we'll go out there and tell him to piss off then?" I asked.

"Mhmm. I'll talk to Sam and see if he can get the pack together and once it's organized, we'll go out there," Jake said.

The doorbell rang, I heard Charlie open the door. Beside me Jake stiffened, "There's a vampire at your door."

"Uh, Bella," Charlie called up the stairs, "There's someone at the door for you."

**Reviews are awesome...you guys rock!**

& incase you missed..yea...Edward's gone a little off his rocker...I know the whole Jacob realizing what the pictures meant last chapter was probly a little confusing...he knew Bella still had nightmares about Edward and he knew that Edward was in her room...he figured Edward heard her having a nightmare (_the no, Edward don't_ was part of a nightmare...she still dreams about the day he left her in Phoenix..)and had convinced himself that Bella was still in love with him.

And for curiousities sake..would you guys read a story with all human characters...a Jacob/Bella story? I'm working on another one that starts with them as kids, they meet and form this lifelong friendship with lots of ups and downs and twists...sound interesting?


	11. Chapter 11 The Same Deep Water As You

A/N...if you don't know by now...Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer...and this title belongs to The Cure..

**BPOV**

I stared, wide eyed at Jake. "It's not Edward; it can't be. Charlie was too calm. If it was Edward, Charlie probably would have shot him."

Jake nodded thoughtfully, "Yeah, you're right. Well, I guess there's only one way to find out who it is."

He stood and reached for my hand, "come one," he said pulling me off the bed. I followed him down the stairs, peeking around him to see who my mysterious vampire guest was. Alice Cullen stood in the foyer, nervously tapping her foot. Bubbles of joy rose in my throat at the sight of her. I wanted to run down the stairs and throw my arms around her.

She looked at Jake and wrinkled her nose. "Hello Bella. Jacob," she said in her musical voice.

"Alice," I said more calmly than I felt.

"How are you?" she asked, inspecting what she could see of me, the parts that weren't hidden behind Jacob.

"Fine, thank you. And you? How have you been?"

"I'm fine. Can we step outside?" Alice stepped into the front yard.

Jake grabbed my hand, "Come on, I can't breath in here. The stench is _awful." _

We followed Alice out onto the damp grass. "Look," she began, "I'm only here because of Edward." Alice paced back and forth. I looked at Jake, then back to Alice.

_Get to your point, _I wanted to shout. But I stood there and waited patiently for her to speak her peace.

**APOV**

I paced back and forth in front of Jacob and Bella. I wanted to hug Bella, id missed her so much, and now I was here to bring her probably the worst news she was going to ever hear.

I stopped pacing and faced Bella and Jacob. "I don't know where to begin," I sighed, "Edward-he- well he's gone…crazy, I guess you could say. He's been stalking you Bella, pretty much since the incident in Phoenix. He told me he 'never really left you' and believes you still love him." They both just stood there staring at me; neither seemed really surprised by this information.

"We already knew he's been stalking her. I've seen the photos," Jacob said.

"Oh. Well, okay then. He's planning on breaking the treaty. The details aren't clear; you and your pack mates make things rather fuzzy. But he's planning on 'rescuing' Bella from you Jacob."

Jacob's face fell, "Are you serious?" he asked incredulously.

I nodded. "He's planning on just what exactly? Walking onto the rez?

I nodded again, "And it _will_ end badly." I wasn't looking for sympathy from Jacob Black; I wasn't expecting him to give Edward a free pass. The treaty was in place for a reason.

"Alice, what do you want us to do? We can't stop him from walking onto the rez," Bella said.

"Well," I said in an unsure voice, "you could beat him to it. You could come to my house and talk to him."

**JPOV**

"No!" I said firmly, "Hell no!"

"Jacob, please. I don't want to lose my brother," Alice pleaded.

I looked at Bella, "It's up to you," I finally said, "We can go now or we can bring the pack with us, just to be on the safe side."

Bella looked from me to Alice, back to me. I knew she didn't want to do this and I hated having to be the one to dump this on her, but it was her he wanted, so would _have_ to be the one to send him away.

Bella took a deep breath, "I'll come out there under two conditions."

"Okay."

"One," Bella said holding up her index finger, "Jacob comes, and he does not leave my side."

"Okay," she nodded, "Second?"

Bella held up a second finger, "I want the pack to be in the woods. Just in case."

I was proud of her for not backing down though it would have been infinitely easier to run and hide on the rez.

Alice nodded her head, "fine," she said, "but just so you know, I'll be calling Emmett and Jasper. Just in case Edward has a problem controlling himself."

"When should we expect your call?" I asked Alice.

She closed her eyes for a moment, a look of extreme concentration on her face.

"What is she doing?" I whispered to Bella.

"Trying to," Bella made parenthesis with her fingers, "'see.'"

"See what? What's she gonna see with her eyes closed?"

Bella snorted softly, "the future. Remember?" she wiggled her eyes meaningfully at me. The subject of the Cullen's special abilities had come up once. "She's trying to see if Jasper and Emmett will come. How long it will take for them to get here; anything that will give them upper hand."

I nodded, damn fortune telling vampire. Alice opened her eyes, "Two days," she said absolutely. "Is that enough time for you?" she asked us.

Bella looked at me. I crossed my arms over my chest and nodded. "That's fine," Bella told her.

Satisfied the matter at hand was finished, I kissed Bella. "I'll give you a minute," I said tilting my head in Alice's direction and then I crossed the squishy lawn and went back inside. I stood in the doorway and watched Bella hug Alice.

"I've missed you" I heard Bella tell her.

**APOV**

I would have to say that Jacob Black surprised me. He complemented Bella in a way I'd never seen when she was with Edward. Jacob was literally Bella's other half. It was also slightly disturbing how he protected her by not protecting her. He made her stand on her own two feet, think for herself and make decisions on her own. She looked to him for support, and he gave it; but he never once coddled Bella like Edward would have done. She truly was better off without him in her life. _That_ fact alone made me truly sad.

After I left Bella's, I directed my snappy yellow Porche back home. Edward was still sitting at the ruined piano, playing the haunting version of Bella's lullaby. I don't think he left the piano once since I'd come home.

"Where have you been?" he asked dully.

"I went to see Bella," I told him as I set my purse on the piano and began shuffling through the contents searching for my cell phone.

His entire demeanor changed, "I know. I can smell her on you. Her and the dog," he growled.

I located the cell phone and flipped it open. Esme answered, her warm, homey voice laced with concern.

"Hi Esme," I said wearily, "it's much worse than I originally feared."

I launched into the details of Edwards obsession. Then I got to the point, "I need Emmett and jasper to get out here; just in case."

She set the phone down and called Jasper and Emmett to the phone. Jasper picked it up, "you still pissed?" he asked.

I ignored the jab, "Can you and Emmett please fly out here? He's going to try and bite Bella if she refuses him. I can't handle this on my own."

"Okay," Jasper sighed, "We'll be on the first flight out."

"Thank you," I whispered.

"We should have listened to you Alice. I'm sorry."

"It's okay Jasper. You guys couldn't have known. None of us did."

"I'll see you soon. Love you."

"I love you too."

**JPOV**

I stared at the pack's faces. The only one who wasn't surprised to hear that Edward had gone batty was Jared, and that was because he'd been there when we found the photos.

"So in two days time, Alice's brothers should be here from Maine. All Bella wants is for use to be there. Moral support and all," I told them all.

Sam stood next to me, "Okay Jake. We can do that." He looked each member of the pack in the eye, "As soon as Jacob gets the call you all need to be ready."

After leaving Sam's, Quil, Embry and I walked down toward the beach. The three of us quietly walked. I'd stop and pick up bits of shell or an odd colored piece of sea glass and shove them in my pocket.

"Dude," Quil said, breaking the silence.

Embry and I looked at him, "What?"

"It's too quiet."

I kicked the sand, "Sorry. I'm just a little pre-occupied," I mumbled.

"It's all good man," Embry said, elbowing Quil in the ribs.

"Look guys, I'm sorry I haven't been around much. The whole stalker Edward thing and all that; I swear once this is all over, we'll go to Port Angeles, see a movie or something."

Quil chucked a large, flat stone into the choppy surf, "Okay Jake. That sounds fun."

**BPOV**

The two days had passed faster than I liked. I awoke that morning to the sun shining in my bedroom window and the phone ringing. I answered with a nervous, "Hello."

"Good morning Bella," Alice chirped.

"Morning," I grumbled.

"You don't sound very happy," she pouted.

"Of course I don't sound happy. I get to face your brother today. I'm not exactly looking forward to that you know."

"Oh yea, I forgot about that. Well not really. Jasper and Emmett are here. Will you be ready this evening?"

I gulped, "yes."

"Okay," Alice sang, "see you tonight."

I hung up and called Jacob.

"Hullo?" he said sleepily.

"It's me. The other Cullen's are here. We're meeting them at their house tonight."

**You guys are amazing...I love reading your comments..they make my day...that's why I'm giving you a bonus chapter today :)**

We're coming up to the big scene here and I'm definitely having trouble deciding on what's going to happen...so tell me this...what _don't _you want to happen?


	12. Chapter 12 Battlefield

A/N Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer

**BPOV**

If you looked up anxiety in the dictionary, you would see a picture of my face at this precise moment. I could thoroughly relate to how a condemned prisoner feels as they are being escorted to their execution. My heart was racing, palms were sweaty and my hands were shaking so bad that Jacob had to drive out to the Cullen's.

He'd been silent from the second he walked into my house earlier that evening. Charlie and Billy had gone to see a baseball game in Seattle, so they were safe, one issue I wouldn't have to worry about on the off chance that this meeting got wildly out of control.

"Get ready to turn up here," I told him, pointing at an almost indiscernible break in the trees. Jake slowed the truck down and turned down the dark, tree lined lane.

"Pull over for a second," I requested. He pulled the truck over and looked at me expectantly. His eyes were hard, almost angry, "What's wrong?" I asked him nervously.

"I'm just a little worried, that's all."

"About what?" I asked, ringing my hands.

"Well, I'm worried that when you see him, you're going to want him." Jacob's cheeks flushed a deep red.

My jaw dropped, "Seriously? What do you take me for? A masochist? No, Jake, I don't want him. I swear. After what he did to me, how bad he hurt me, no. I would never even consider subjecting myself to that nonsense _ever_ again. And besides…I love you."

Jake grabbed my hand, "Okay," he said guiding the truck back onto the driveway, "let's go then."

The moonlight illuminated the Cullen's front yard. Jacob and I stood in the middle of the yard in front of the steps.

"Is the pack here?" I asked him searching the dark for six sets of glowing eyes.

Jake looked toward the woods, and nodded, "Yeah, there's Sam, Leah, Embry." He nodded to each wolf's position in the woods, "Paul, Quil and Jared."

I breathed a sigh of relief, then reached down and grabbed my courage by the bootstraps. As I waited I felt myself getting angry. Anger was good; anger was better than fear and I was _sick_ of being afraid. I was sick of feeling weak and pathetic. I never wanted to feel that way again. I had lived in fear for so long. I had feared that I wasn't good enough for Edward, that I wasn't pretty enough. I had been afraid of losing Edward; never seeing Alice again, afraid that James was going to kill my mother, then me. Afraid that Laurent and Victoria would eventually come back for me. I was sick and tired of being scared, so I'd put on my big girl panties and grabbed fear by the balls.

Alice appeared on the porch, "Are you ready?" she called down to us.

I nodded. "You can do this," Jake whispered.

A line from a movie popped into my head, "I'm a woman," I said aloud, "I can do all sorts of things."

Then I was face to face with Edward.

"Come down here, you coward," I said to him.

Edward sauntered down the steps and came to stand in front of me. I stood there staring at him. The Edward that I had known, loved, was gone. In his place was some stranger, someone I didn't even recognize.

"How dare you," I spat at him, "how dare you promise to never interfere with my life again and then you go and pull some stunt like this. Who do you think you are?"

Edward opened his mouth to say something.

"Shut up," I hissed at him, "I don't give a shit about what you have to say. I'm not some goddamn toy for you to play with. I am a _human being_ that has feelings and a life…I know that might be hard for _you_ to relate to, you know the _human_ part, but damn it Edward, you left me _broken_ in that damn hospital. _YOU_ LEFT _ME!" _I took a deep breath, damn that felt good.

Edward stood there, staring at me as if he didn't recognize me either.

"You mauled my heart. You forever changed who I was. The Bella that you knew; the one you left half dead in the hospital when you walked out with all your righteous piousness, well guess what, she died. And true to the phoenix, _I_ rose from the ashes, with _his;" _I jerked around and pointed at Jacob, "help. _His_ love, _his _patience; _He's _the one who saved me."

The next thing that happened happened so fast _no one_ saw it coming. Edward's icy hands were on me, grabbing me, pulling me against his rock hard chest.

"The dog saved you?" he growled into my ear, "Where was the dog when you cried yourself to sleep every night, when you woke up screaming?"

He ran a finger along my jawbone, "Tell me that Bella. Tell me where you beloved little puppy was then?"

Edward's face hovered just over my neck; his nose moving back and forth as he breathed my scent. "You still smell as good as I remember," he breathed.

His cold breath sent chills down the back of my neck. I was desperately fighting the urge to run; he probably would have killed me if I tried. I looked at Jacob desperately; he had changed, bursting out of his skin as soon as Edward put his hands on me. The hackles on the back of Jakes neck bristled, a low warning growl rumbled in his chest.

"I can smell your fear," Edward whispered, "it's delicious."

Jasper and Emmett approached Edward slowly and cautiously.

"Edward, let her go," Emmett called.

"Yeah Edward, come on. Let Bella go," Jasper coaxed.

He growled at the two of them and spun around to face them, dragging me like a rag doll. That was going to hurt in the morning.

"No. I won't let her go until she agrees to come back to me."

"Edward, you're going to hurt her," Alice said from the opposite side. Edward swung around to face Alice. Once again I was tossed like a rag doll.

"Better dead than with the dog. If I can't have her than no one can."

"So what, you're gonna kill me? Is that it Edward; if you can't have me no one can?" Reason told me to shut my mouth, he was obviously crazy; but I was done with this.

Emmett rapidly advanced toward Edward's side. He threw me down and went after Emmett. Jake came charging at me, leapt high over my head and grabbed a hold of Edward. He grabbed Edward's pant leg, denim and spittle went flying all over the scene.

Chaos erupted; wolves came bounding out of the woods, lunging for Edward. Alice started screaming and Edward was pitching wolves back toward the woods, and pummeling Jasper's head while Emmett tried desperately to get his arms around Edward. It was madness, pure and simple.

A smaller grey wolf appeared at my side and grabbed my sleeve. I gazed into the wolf's eyes, _come on, _they seemed to say, _let me get you out of here._ I followed the wolf away from the destruction and fighting. Headlights illuminated the driveway and a silver Mercedes slowly drove down the lane. It stopped next to m and the automatic window rolled down with a whisper of electric motors.

"Carlisle? What are you doing here?"

Carlisle shook his head, "I'm a foolish man. Jasper called me, said Edward was in desperate need of help. What is going on?"

I told the story to Carlisle. After I finished, he got out of the Mercedes and walked right into the eye of the storm. The frenzy had calmed, Emmett had a bear grip on Edward, and the wolves were backing away, licking their wounds.

**EPOV**

Across the field Bella was crouched next to her dog. Emmett's arms were tight across my chest. "Let me go Emmett," I snarled at him.

Emmett chuckled, "Not on your life pal."

Carlisle had gotten out of a silver Mercedes a few minutes ago and was now walking toward Emmett, Jasper and I.

"Edward," he said shaking his head, "What are you doing?"

I snarled at him, "Back off Carlisle."

"I can't. You're out of control; you could have killed someone, or yourself."

"I'd welcome death right about now," I snarled at him. I had half a mind to agree to calm down and then as soon as I could, run off to Italy.

"Carlisle," Alice said.

"Shut up Alice," I hissed.

"The Volturi will not kill you Edward," Carlisle said in distressing tone, "they do, however, feel the need to have you come and stay with them."

I snorted, "Yea right."

"It's either that or death. And I don't want to see you killed Edward."

"I'm not leaving Bella," I said adamantly looking at the naked werewolf, "She belonged to me."

'Nothing here belongs to you, Edward, "Jacob said evenly.

"I'm telling you, she was mine."

"Yes, _was _yours. But not anymore; _she_ doesn't want _you_ anymore," Jacob said matter of fact.

"Yes, she does. She still calls for me, still says my name. She'll always want me."

"No, Edward. I won't," Bella stood and walked toward me. She folded her arms over her chest and looked at me sadly, "I will always be grateful for our time together; but you ended things. You promised me that you wouldn't come back, you wouldn't contact me. You said your existence would never burden mine again. Edward, what do you think you're doing now? You came back, you contacted me. You wanted me to move on; to have a life apart from you. That's what I did; now why can't you just be happy that I'm happy?"

I looked at Bella, I knew this was hurting her, but it was hurting me too. Why couldn't she see that?

"I can't live without you," I whispered.

"You can, you have. You're going to have to. I'm sorry Edward, it's over between us."

Tears slid down Bella's face. I hung my head, "I understand," I said looking down at my feet. I'd bide my time, eventually she would realize that what we had didn't compare to what she and Jacob had and I would still be here waiting until she was ready to come back to me.

**JPOV**

Thankfully Sam had an extra pair of pants. I slipped them and hurried to Bella. She grabbed a hold of me and was sobbing, her hot tears leaving moist trails down my skin. I held her tightly to my warm chest. "It's okay," I soothed, "it's over now."

Violent sobs racked her body, "I'm so glad. I thought he was going to bite me."

I soothed her hair; I had feared the very same thing. I had never felt as helpless as I had when he grabbed her and started sniffing and licking her neck. "I would have saved you," I assured her, "Now come on, let's go home."

I carried Bella back to the truck and placed her in the passenger side and headed back toward town. "My place or yours?" I asked her.

Bella sniffed and shrugged, "Mine I guess, its closer. All I wanna do is take a shower. I feel so violated, I just want to wash him off of me.

I drove her back to her house, and sat on the couch watching a re-run of The Simpsons while Bella showered.

She came down stairs 20 minutes later looking soft and pink in her holey sweats.

"Feel better?" I asked her and pulled her into my lap.

"Yes…and no. I'm glad I got to confront him, but what if he comes back?" She started tracing her finger up and down my bare chest.

"I don't think he will. Once Carlisle sees the extent of madness, he'll control his _son_ a little better." I rubbed her back. Pretty soon she was breathing evenly, and snoring lightly. I leaned my head back on the couch and closed my eyes, glad this day was over, and that no one was hurt.

The next thing I knew it was morning and Charlie had covered us sometime during the course of the night.

**Reviews are better than letting Creepy Edward live! And you guys are awesome with all the kick ass reviews! I 3 you all!  
**

I _was_ going to kill him..but from all your comments you guys probably would have killed _me!_ Lol...can't say I blame you..Creepy Edward is definitly fun..."_I can smell your fear...it's delicious." _that's by far my fav creepy edward moment... :) And just to clarify..I'm a total attention whore...the comments make my day..I have no intentions of stopping this until it's finished...I would never want to disappoint all those who have taken the time to read and comment by just quitting mid-story...now my husband is yelling for me to turn the creepy edward playlist off....he doesn't like creepy edward..lol


	13. Chapter 13 Four Months Later

A/N All thing Twilight belong to Stephenie Meyer

**BPOV**

Four months had passed since the showdown in the front yard of the Cullen's house. Things had gone back to normal; well as normal as they ever were. The creepy messages from Edward stopped; Alice and I had kept in contact though. She'd call me all the time, trying to make up for all the months of not speaking; she'd even flown out here a few times.

Carlisle had followed through on Italy. Alice said Edward and Carlisle had been on a plane to Volterra the morning after the "showdown". Once in Italy, the powerful Italian vampires kept Edward under a watchful eye.

One snowy weekend after Thanksgiving, Alice and I were on our way back to her house from Port Angeles when she told me they were going to see Edward for Christmas.

I had nodded trying to be polite, but not really caring about what Edward was doing. Then she started picking on my truck, "You know," she said with her nose wrinkled, "you should really think about re-upholstering the seats." She plucked at the frayed fabrics.

"Hey, leave my baby alone," I said defensively.

Charlie had made quite a fuss about Alice's sudden reappearance. He liked Alice a lot, he said, but the whole family had caused me enough trouble. I explained, over and over again, that Alice wasn't coming back permanently, just every once in a while to see me. And under no circumstances was I ever going to leave Jacob. Charlie gave me hell for a few days, and then Jacob talked to him. I don't know what was said or what Jake told him, but after that Charlie calmed down about the whole Alice in Forks thing.

Emily and Sam had gotten married on New Years Eve. It had been a small ceremony, just the pack and a few family members. I had been worried about her lately; every time I talked to her or went to see her, she looked sick and feverish.

As I sat in the parking lot waiting for the truck to warm up, Angela and Ben walked across the snowy parking lot, hand in hand. I waved at them. Angela smiled and waved back. The vents started kicking out warm air as I backed out of the parking space. I headed down toward La Push to see Emily. She was supposed to go to the doctor today to find out what was wrong with her. I felt a little bad; I hadn't spent much time with her since Alice came back. I tried my best to balance out my life, but between school, family, and friends I sometimes came up short.

When I pulled up to Emily's her car wasn't in the driveway. I turned the truck off and knocked on the door on the off chance that Sam had taken the car and Emily had stayed behind. There was no answer, so I got back in the truck and drove to Jacob's instead. He still had my old copy of _Wuthering Heights_, and my bookshelf looked naked without the raggedy book.

"Hey," he said, opening the door, "I thought you were going to Emily's?"

He pecked my lips, "I was," I told him, "she's not there."

"Oh. Well come on in out of the snow."

**JPOV**

I was surprised to see Bella at the door when I opened it. I hoped to hell she didn't notice the bulge in my pocket.

"I'll be right back," I said and darted down the hallway.

I took care of the bulge, slipping it into the top drawer of my dresser, and then went back to the living room where Bella was sitting flipping through a magazine. I sat down on the couch next to her and threw my arm over the back of the couch.

"So, your birthday is next week," she said, still flipping through the magazine.

"I know," I groaned.

"You're not excited?" she asked.

"In a way, yea. But really, look at me. Do I _look_ 18?"

Bella shook her head no.

"So see, it doesn't really matter."

"So you don't want anything?" she asked me suggestively wiggling her eyebrows, climbing into my lap and playing with my hair.

"Just you, forever."

Bella closed the space between us, "That can be arranged."

**EPOV **

**Volterra, Italy**

I absolutely loathed Volterra. The summers were excruciatingly hot, the sun shone all the time forcing me to skulk around the city like the creature of the night I did not want to be.

It was dusk now, the air crisp. My dark cloak swirled around my ankles. There were families out and about, talking and laughing. Bits and pieces of their conversations swirled around me, like flakes of fallen snow.

There was a couple in front of me. They were walking with their arms intertwined, looking very much in love. It made me long for Bella. Thinking of Bella hurt, and I pushed the image out of my head. But it was too late.

I felt a familiar pang in my chest; Carlisle had been right to send me here; it had helped dull the pain, but it was always there; just under the surface. You'd think that time, distance and the knowledge that Bella was just as much in love with Jacob Black as he was with her would help. But truthfully, it didn't. Nothing did.

I roamed aimlessly, but after four months of being confined within the city walls it was hard to properly wander. There was only so far you could go.

I turned a corner into a dark alleyway, thinking I'd just go home. Up ahead, a dark haired girl turned the corner. _Bella, _I thought and hurried after her.

"Bella?" I called. She stopped and looked at me over her shoulder; the smiled and darted down another dark street.

I rounded the corner, "Bella?" I called, "Where are you?"

Up a head I saw her, she grinned at me, "Come on Edward; come find me."

I chased Bella around corners and down dark alleys. I turned another corner and saw her standing on a crowded street looking into a store window.

"Bella," I sighed, grasping her shoulder.

The girl, who was clearly _not_ Bella looked at me, "Scusi, che cosa lo pensate state facendo?" (_excuse me, what do you think you are doing?"), _she said in rapid Italian.

"Sono spiacente (_I'm sorry_)," I replied, dropping my hand from her shoulder. I turned and walked quickly into the crowd. How could I have been so foolish? Bella wasn't here; she'd never be here again.

**JPOV**

**La Push, Washington**

I was 18. I lay in bed not really caring. _Should I feel different_, I though_, Cause_ _I don't. I still feel the same_. I looked at my arms, still the same. Lifted the blankets and looked at my legs, still the same. I rolled out of bed and looked in the mirror. Still looked like me, same old Jake. I went back into my room and opened the top dresser drawer and looked inside. Still there, I thought and slid the drawer closed.

I was nervous. I hadn't been this nervous in I don't know how long. I had talked to my dad, who whole heartedly agree that it was the right thing to do. So then I went and talked to Charlie. His face had turned the most virulent shade of purple, eggplant really, when I told him what my plan was.

"You're too young," he had said when I first asked him. I had to explain that I wasn't going to do it today or tomorrow or even next week. When I told him I planned to wait till my birthday, he loosened up a bit.

"Look," I'd finally said, "I'm going to do it with or without your blessing, but for Bella's sake, I'd rather have your blessing."

Charlie and I had sat there staring at each other across the table.

"Fine," he eventually said, "You have my blessing. But if you hurt her, I'll shoot you."

**BPOV**

I parked beside the steps leading down the beach and got out of the truck. I stood at the top of the stairs and looked down. This was dangerous, navigating stairs in the dark. I looked down on the beach; there was a flicker, like someone had lit tiny bonfires all over the beach.

_What the hell? _ I thought as I grabbed the railing and carefully descended the stairs. Jake was standing at the base of the steps.

"Hi," he said nervously.

"Happy birthday."

"Thanks," he said and led me to the picnic table that had been set up and left on the beach after one of the rez barbecues.

I realized where the flickering was coming from; someone, Jake, had set fat white candles into large glass hurricanes and buried them in the sand around the picnic table.

"Jake what is all this?" I asked looked around at all the candles.

"Well there's something I wanted to ask you," he said.

"Here on the beach? Jake it's freezing down here."

**JPOV**

What was I thinking? It was January and we were standing on the beach like a couple of ninnies.

"I'm sorry," I said reaching for Bella, "come on. We'll go back to my house where it's warm."

Bella stood there and crossed her arms over her chest. "No," she said, planting her feet, "you said you wanted to ask me something. You went to all this trouble, so ask me."

Since her showdown with Edward she'd gotten more aggressive. Bella took shit from no one; she was assertive and aggressive; it was beautiful to see that fire burning inside of her.

"Okay," I said, "come here." I held out my hand and she slipped her cool one into my warm one. I took a deep breath, "I love you, so much and I know that we're young, but really, what's age but a number. And really with all the weirdness I've got going on, and you able to accept it all. It just feels like this is the next logical step, and I hope you-"

"Jake, you're rambling," Bella interrupted.

"I am? Sorry, I'm just really…nervous."

"Nervous? What are you nervous?" Bella asked, panic starting to etch itself into her face.

"Okay, here it is." I took a deep breath and opened my mouth.

**BPOV**

"Will you marry me?"

"Oh my god!" I shrieked, "oh my god, Yes!"

Jacob pulled a small black box out of his pocket and opened it. Nestled inside the black box was a simple diamond engagement ring. The thin gold band and small square cut diamond sparkled in the candle light.

"It's beautiful," I breathed as Jake slid the ring onto my finger.

"It was my moms." He gazed at the ring on my finger, "it's a bit big. We'll have to get it resized."

I nodded and grabbed his face. "What did I ever do to deserve you?" I breathed.

"Everything and nothing," Jake said, kissing me breathless.

"Thank you," he said when his lips finally left mine.

"For what?"

"Giving me the best birthday ever."

Later as we were driving back to my house a thought occurred to me, "Um Jake?"

"Yea?"

"Did Charlie know you were gonna ask me to marry you?"

Jake nodded, "Yea. Right after Alice started visiting I overheard him and Billy talking about it. He was worried you were going to get tangled up in Edward's web and leave me broken-hearted. I talked to my dad about having my moms ring, and then I went and talked to Charlie to ask for his blessing."

"What did he say?" I asked, "Did he try to shoot you?"

Jacob laughed, "No. but he said if I hurt you he'd shoot me. He tried to tell me we were too young. If only he knew about half the things the two of us have been through."

We both laughed.

"If he only knew," I agreed.

**Reviews are better than birthday engagements**

Sorry for the late update..I was brainstorming ways to make this longer...cuz it looks like I'm coming to the end...I've got about two more chapters..and then I'm fresh out of ideas...but I am working on another story..something that came to me yesterday..another Bella and Jacob, all human story...


	14. Chapter 14 Slow Dancing in a BurningRoom

A/N All things Twilight belong to Stephenie Meyer

**BPOV**

Charlie and Billy's only stipulation, request really; it's not like there was much they could have done if we didn't want to comply; was that we wait until the summer to get married. Billy had wanted Jake to graduate high school before getting married. So we waited. The spring had arrived slowly, thawing the frozen ground with non-stop rain. By the time spring break arrived I was anxious to see the sun. I was sitting in the garage reading a book while Jake and Quil argued over what Emily and Sam's baby was going to be.

Sam had us all come over a few days after Jake's birthday. The pack had all arrived and we crammed ourselves into Emily and Sam's living room.

"Seems quite a few of us have some news to share," Sam began, and looked at Emily. Emily smiled and nodded at him, "Emily and I would like to let you all know we are expecting our first child in the fall." I jumped up and ran to Emily. I threw my arms around her, "Oh congrats! I'm so happy for you!" I exclaimed.

Sam looked at Jacob, then me. Jacob nodded, Sam cleared his throat, "Also Jake and Bella have some news as well. Jake."

Jacob stood, "The other night I asked Bella to marry me…and she said yes!"

Congratulations were called out, and Emily and the other girls started peppering me with questions and I showed off my engagement ring. We had gotten it resized and it fit beautifully now.

"It's going to be a girl," I called out to the boys. "Now stop fighting."

"Yes dear," they both said simultaneously. I laughed and broached the subject of spring break.

"Jake?" I said.

"What Bells?"

"Do you think your dad would let you go to Jacksonville for spring break?" I asked.

"I dunno. I am 18, so even if he said no, I could still go," Jake grinned. "Why?"

"I need to see the sun. And I kinda miss my mom. So we could kill two birds with one stone. I could get some sun and see my mom. I figured you might like to come; meet your new mother in law…all that jazz."

So here we were, three weeks later landing at the Jacksonville International Airport. My mother was standing just outside the gate and started waving frantically as we walked down the terminal.

"Oh honey," she gushed, "You look beautiful."

"Hi mom!" I said, hugging her.

"You must be Jacob," she hugged him too; "My you're a tall fellow."

Jacob and I laughed. "Well come on kids. Let's not waste any of this beautiful daylight."

We walked out of the airport into the blinding Florida sun. It was late March, but it was a balmy 75 degrees.

"Is it always this warm?" I asked.

Renee nodded, "Oh yea. It gets cooler at night, but during the day, it's always nice and warm. It'll start to get a little hotter next month, then by the time May is here, it's full on shorts and tank tops."

Renee opened the trunk of her SUV and Jake threw our bags in. Renee drove the winding roads of the airport, getting lost twice, before we finally found our way out.

With the windows rolled down, the warm air blew threw the car, warming my skin. "So congratulations are in order. When's the big day?" she asked me.

"June 25th. Jake graduates the week before, then we're having the wedding," I told her before turning my face toward the sun.

"Where are you two going to honeymoon?"

I glanced over my shoulder at Jacob, "You hear that Jake. My mom wants to know where we are honeymooning."

"Well Bella, I will tell your mom when you're not around," Jacob said from the back seat.

"You're a jerk," I sniffed.

"Yes, but you love me."

I gazed at him, my heart so full of love it felt like it would burst. "Yes," I said happily, "I do."

**JPOV**

Florida was awesome. Renee turned onto a road that ran alongside the ocean. I looked at the street sign, SR A1A. That was the strangest street name I'd ever heard.

"Renee," I said, "What is an SR A1A?" I asked.

Renee laughed, "I said the same thing right after Phil and I moved here. The SR stands for State Road, and A1A, well I'm not sure what that stands for. It's a road that runs up and down the entire coast of Florida, from Key West to Jacksonville. It was dubbed the "scenic route" because it runs up and down the coast."

I nodded, "that is strange. But interesting."

Renee pulled up a quaint little yellow house that was sitting on stilts. I closed my eyes and laughed. Perched houses, scenic roads that ran up and down the coast, what else did this odd little state have to offer.

I found out shortly after unpacking my things. One minute it was all sunshine and birds singing, the next thing I knew clouds rolled in from out over the ocean and the windows were shaking with the force of a thunderstorm unlike any I had ever seen.

I ran into the living room, worried that the house was going to be pitched off its stilts.

"Calm down Jake, it'll be done and over in, oh, I dunno, 20 minutes or so."

I sank down next to Bella on the sofa, "Your mother's state is weird. I don't like it at all," I whispered.

Bella laughed, "Be nice," she whispered back.

"The house is funny too. It's on stilts, how odd is that?"

"It's for the hurricanes. If the beach floods my moms house won't get swept out to sea."

"Oh," I said foolishly, "it's still funny."

Like Renee had said, the rain cleared out in 20 minutes and the next thing we knew the sun was shining again.

"Come on, let's go down to the beach," I said snatching Bella's raggedy copy of Wuthering Heights out of her hand.

"Aw, Jake, come on that was the good part," she whined.

"Come on. Bathing suits, you and me."

We changed into our suits and headed down toward the beach. I charged the water, and found it to be on the cold side. I went in up to my knees then decided hanging on the beach with Bella was way more fun. I could swim in the cold ocean at home.

I sat down next to her, "What's wrong with the water?" she asked squinting up at me.

"Believe it or not, it's cold. I can swim in the cold ocean at home, so it's lost its coolness factor." I stretched out on the blanket she'd set down in the sand and closed my eyes.

I hadn't realized I missed the sun until I'd come here, "Are you excited for the wedding?" I asked Bella. She and Alice and Emily had been all over Washington trying to find the perfect wedding gown; as far as I knew it hadn't been found yet.

"Yes," she said rolling onto her side to look at me, "I still haven't found my dress yet, but we're still looking. Alice was talking about going down to California. She said you could always find something decent in Los Angeles. I don't think Emily would fare to well if she was stuck in a car with Alice though."

I nodded and traced a finger up and down her spine, "Well keep looking. I'm sure you'll find the right dress for you."

Bella shivered, "I know. Its just frustrating; going to all these different shops, trying on hundreds of different dresses and never finding on that fits me; us."

"Maybe you and your mom could go to a few shops while we're here. It's not L.A. but it's worth a shot."

I yawned and laid my head in the crook of my arm.

Bella kissed my lips, "that's why I love you."

**BPOV**

"Hey mom, do you have plans today?" I asked my mom as I stirred some sugar into my coffee.

"No honey, I don't. Why what's up?"

"I haven't found a wedding dress yet. I've been all over Washington and haven't found anything. I was wondering if you would go with me while I was here to look. Jake said maybe I could find one here."

Renee's eyes filled with tears, "Of course I'll take you to find a dress."

Three dress shops and almost four hours later, I'd found the perfect dress. It was more like a sundress, shorter than a traditional wedding gown, with spaghetti straps and a tiny beading around the bottom that glistened in the shops lights. As soon as I put it on, I knew it was the dress. When we arrived back at my mom's house I toted the dress upstairs and set it in the back of the closet so Jake wouldn't see it.

The rest of the week flew by and before I knew it Renee was dropping us off at the airport.

"I'll see you guys in June for the wedding," she sniffed, wiping her eyes. She grasped my face, "I miss you everyday. But I'm glad you're happy. I love you." She kissed my forehead then turned to Jacob.

"You," she said, "Are a spectacular young man. Take care of my daughter and be good to her. I look forward to being able to call you my son-in-law." She kissed Jake's cheek too.

He hugged her, "I will take care of Bella," he vowed,

I waved goodbye to my crying mom and we boarded the plane. I hadn't realized how much I missed her until it was time to say good bye again. I watched as Jacksonville disappeared as the plane angled west, then we were in the clouds and the city could be seen no more.

**Reviews are better than houses on stilts**

Woo hoo this one was fun because I live in Jacksonville, FL and the whole what the hell is SR A1A is true...I actually said that to a friend of mine during my first trip to Florida...and I'm gonna let you guys know now...the last chapter of this little story is gonna be a doozy...I'm writing it now (just because the idea popped into my head and I had to write it or it would have been lost forever) and _I'm _crying like Chuckie just killed my dog...but your gonna have to follow the instructions I post with it...it will be more effective that way..lol..but on a more serious note..you guys are awesome...thank you all for taking time out of your lives to read this and to leave such awesome reviews...I really, really, really appreciate them all and I hope that you read some other stuff that I write :)


	15. Chapter 15 So Are You To Me

A/N All Twilight characters belong to Stephenie Meyer

**BPOV**

_I was getting married today_. The thought flitted into my head like a drifting butterfly and settled down. I was excited, there was no doubt about that, but I was terrified too. Jacob was my best friend and we had been through a lot, but what if this didn't work? What if we got married and everything changed? What if everything we had was ruined?

Charlie knocked on my door, "Bells? You awake yet?"

He opened the door and peeked in, "Hey Dad. Yea I'm up." I sat up and swung my legs out of bed and stood. I was shaky and leaned against the table.

"Whoa there kid. You're looking a little green. You okay?" Charlie asked, rushing to my side.

"I'm scared Dad," I whimpered and latched onto Charlie's waist.

He patted my hair, "Why are you scared? You and Jake are perfect for each other." Charlie wrapped his arms around me and rested his chin on my head, "I've never seen two people who were more perfect for each other, actually," he said, almost as an afterthought.

"But Dad, what if we get married and everything changes?"

"Well, Bella, everything is going to change no matter what. Everything is always changing. Right now, this very moment you're changing. Do you love Jacob?"

He looked at me. "Yes," I whispered.

"Does Jacob love you?"

"Yes," I whispered again.

"Then the two of you will do everything you can to make each other happy. Things will change, but they'll be better because of it."

"But you and mom-"

"Loved each other very much, but we wanted different things. She wanted to be somewhere warm and sunny and I wanted to be here. And when your mother left, I let her go because that was what she wanted. I couldn't keep her here, couldn't force her to stay. I had to let her go for her to be happy. If we were supposed to be we would have found our way back to each other. But we weren't, and that's okay. I have you- you're all the happiness that I need."

I wiped a tear from my eyes. That was the most emotionally expressive thing I had ever heard my father utter.

"Okay," I said taking a deep breath. "Let's rock this popcorn stand."

Charlie laughed, "Rock this what?"

I blushed, "Nothing...it's just a joke."

Charlie mussed my hair, "You're so weird."

"Thanks Dad," I muttered.

Jake and I were getting married on beach for a couple of reasons. We were worried Edward would crash the wedding, having in on First Beach would make that a little less likely, next that was where Jacob and I had sort of reconnected after I came back to Forks. And it was where he asked me to marry him. It just seemed fitting. The only thing that sucked was that the other Cullen's weren't able to attend either, but hey, that was life.

At two o'clock that afternoon I was standing in Emily's bedroom, slipping into my wedding dress. My mom stood behind me with a curling iron in her hand, "Bella hold still," she ordered.

"Mom! Come on; wait until I get the stupid dress on." Why she was trying to curl my hair while I was getting dressed was beyond me. At this moment she was more stressed than I was. I finished zipping my dress and sat down at Emily's antique vanity table.

"There," I said, "proceed."

Renee sighed and wrapped a strand of my hair tightly around the barrel of the curling iron. Emily was sitting in the corner looking sleepy. I smiled sympathetically at her. She was five months pregnant with twins, two little girls. I was so very excited for her, and for the babies to come; the first children to be born into the new pack. Sam was glowing just as much as Emily.

"How you feeling?" I asked her.

She smiled at me, "I'm exhausted, but so excited you're getting married today. Are you nervous?"

I started to shake my head, but the curling iron had a firm grip on my hair, I winced at the pain, "A little," I admitted.

"Don't be; you and Jake are perfect for each other."

"Almost too perfect," Renee chimed in.

"That's what Dad said," I told her.

"Well he would know."

Renee set the curling iron down and started yanking and pulling and twisting parts of my hair.

"My God mom what are you doing to me?" I demanded.

"Oh calm down Bella." She gently turned me so I could look in the mirror. I gasped when I saw myself. My boring brown hair was flowing in a river of curls down my back; Renee had taken the sides of my hair and twisted them back and had woven tiny white flowers, baby's breath, into the twists.

"Oh, wow. Thank you Mom." I got up and hugged her.

"Don't cry," she said patting my back, "You'll ruin your make up."

"Okay," Emily said, heaving herself out of her chair. "Time for your something's old, new, borrowed and blue."

Renee pulled a box off the floor and set it on the bed. Emily reached inside and pulled out an old bracelet, "This is from Alice. She sent it to me a few weeks ago. It's her mothers, and she wants it back. So it's your something old and something borrowed." Emily handed the bracelet to Renee who fastened it to my wrist.

"Here is your something new," Renee said pulling out a blue jeweler's box and opened it. Inside was a pair of earrings, diamonds with sapphire drops, "And your something blue."

I took the earrings from her, "They're beautiful," I whispered.

"They're from your father and I," she said, kissing my cheek.

I fastened the earrings to my ears and faced Renee and Emily, "How do I look?" I asked nervously.

"You look gorgeous," Emily sighed.

Renee nodded, "You look like an angel. I'm going to see how much time we have." Renee slipped out of the room.

I sat and looked at Emily, "I'm scared," I whispered.

"Why?" Emily asked.

"I don't want anything to change," I whispered back.

Emily crossed the room and hugged me, "it won't, I promise. If anything, it will be better."

"Was it better for you and Sam?"

Emily stood and rubbed her swollen belly. "What do you think?" she asked smiling.

I smiled, "I guess I see your point."

"Jacob worships you Bella. Nothing would ever change that. You two will be happier than you ever would have thought. So stop worrying and enjoy it."

Renee came back, "It's time. Are you ready?"

I nodded and followed her out to the car. Charlie was waiting; his eyes welled up when he saw me.

"You look beautiful Bells," he said, wiping away a tear.

"Thanks Dad," I said as he helped me into the car.

On the beach, Jacob and the rest of the pack stood waiting for me. Renee helped Emily down the stairs to the beach. Charlie and I waited until they were both seated before we started our trip down. Four steps down I tripped, Charlie gripped my arm and saved me from a painful death on my wedding day.

"Careful now, klutz," he said out of the side of his mouth.

I giggled manically and slowly went down the rest of the steps. Jacob fidgeted with the sleeve of his tux. I smiled at him, he looked into my eyes and all the anxiety and fear dissolved. I relaxed as Charlie handed my hand to Jacob and he grasped my hands in his.

"Hi," I said softly.

"Hi," he said back, "You look absolutely breathtakingly beautiful."

The rain managed to hold off just long enough. We said our vows and as soon as the minister said, "Ladies and Gentleman I have the extreme pleasure of introducing Mr. & Mrs. Jacob Black," the sky opened up and huge drops of rain fell from the cosmos.

Jacob still hadn't told me where we were going for our honeymoon. After we'd changed out of wet wedding finery, I begged and pleaded until he finally told me.

"Maine," he said dragging a blue t-shirt over his head.

"Maine? Why there?" I struggled with the button on my shirt, Jacob grabbed my hand moved them. His warm fingers brushed my skin as he slid the button through its hold.

"Your friends are there; the ones who weren't able to attend today. I'm taking you to see them."

"Oh really? Jake are you serious? We're really going to see Alice?"

"And Esme and Carlisle; even the one you don't like."

"Rosalie," I spat her name.

"If she gives you any trouble I'll rip her apart," he promised.

**Reviews are great...and you guys are great for leaving them.**

So this is the last chapter before the Epilogue...I'm bummed that its over, I could drag it out but it would just be blah...totally boring...I have started two more stories, Pictures of You is my all human Bella/Jacob one...its about Jacob, who is a painter and Bella who is dating cold fish Edward and she goes to Jacob's art studio to sit for a painting he is doing...the other one I'm doing is called Impossible Things, its a Bella/Edward one because I wanted to give that a try, its all human too, Edward just moved to Forks after Carlisle and Esme get divorced. Emmett is his brother in that one. Bella and Alice are twins who have moved to Forks from Alaska after Charlie was offered the Chief of Police position in Forks. She's pretty pissed about the whole thing...so check those out if they sound interesting. And I have the epilogue done...its ready to go up, like right now..so let me know if you want it today, and I'll be nice and post it.


	16. Chapter 16 Epilogue

A/N All things Twilight belong to Stephenie Meyer

**EPOV **

Forks, Washington - Forty Years Later

Time had passed, as it always does. Each year ticked by like the steadily moving hands of a clock. To most, the passing years are filled with tears of joy and tears of sorrow. For a vampire, there is just time. There are no tears, no joy, no sorrow. No happy little family that tells the world, "Look what I've done. This is what I will leave behind."

For a vampire, we are what is left behind. Mortals come and go, but we remain. Frozen in time, sentenced to watch those we have come to care for wither and become dust in the wind. We must watch as they succumb to incurable human diseases and die. Watch as they are placed in the cold, hard ground. For a vampire, we are sentenced to remember; to chase shadows hoping for a glimpse of the past.

And now, here I stood watching the one person I had loved her whole life succumb to death. Bella had aged beautifully. Her brown hair was gone; it was now a beautiful salt and pepper gray.

I had watched over her and Jacob for the last forty years. I was there the day Isabella Swan became Isabella Black. I had watched from the woods as they exchanged their "I do's" and though it had broken my vampire heart, I refrained from interfering in their lives. She was beautiful with baby's breath woven into her hair.

Then later, as her stomach swelled with Jacob's children, not one, not twice, but three times, I'd been there. I'd silently watched the passages of time. I'd watched as she'd grown older; as Jacob grew older. Their children were beautiful. The girl looked just like Bella. When I'd come back about 5 years ago, she'd walked out of the house, I would have sworn it was Bella.

But now, Bella was dying. Jacob sat by her side, night and day, never leaving. I'd overheard a conversation one afternoon when Sam and Emily had stopped by. She had stage four breast cancer and though they'd operated, she didn't have long to live.

I knocked on the door one afternoon. Bella's daughter answered. She opened the door and stared at me, "Hello," I said, "Is your father home?"

She nodded, "Yes, hold on."

I could hear Jacob speaking to her, "Who's at the door Carly?"

Jacob Black appeared before me, "What do you want?" he said wearily.

"I know it's been a long time, but I'd like a chance to say goodbye," I said sadly.

Jacob stepped aside, "She's awake for now, but she could go back under at any time, so make it quick."

In that moment, all animosity I'd ever felt toward this man disappeared. He did not have to grant me this request, yet he did.

"Thank you, Jacob."

I followed him down a short hallway and into a small bedroom. Bella was lying on the bed. She gasped when she saw me, "Edward Cullen?"

"Hello Bella," I said and sat down next to her bed.

She reached up and touched my face, "Look at you," she sighed, "Forever seventeen. You're still as beautiful as the first time I saw you."

"As are you," I said, pushing a hair out of her face.

In that moment I knew I'd been foolish to leave her. I'd left her for her own good, to keep her from an eternity of nothingness, and look how her life had betrayed her. I bowed my head, "I'm so sorry," I whispered, "Bella, I am so sorry. If only I'd known. If only I could change it, take it all back. I would have given you all that you wanted; I would have made you like me."

Bella smiled, "Don't be sorry Edward. I've had a wonderful life with more love than I could have asked for. I had great friends, beautiful children and the love of a kind and gentle man. There is nothing to be sorry for."

Bella coughed, Jacob appeared by her side with a glass of water and tried to get her to drink. Bella took a sip and sighed heavily. She gazed lovingly at Jacob, "Thank you," she wheezed.

Jacob patted her hand, "I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too," she whispered back shuddered.

Jacob gingerly held her hand. The pain in his eyes was unbearable. I looked from him to Bella, and then I realized she was gone. I stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do. Jacob leaned over Bella and sobbed. It was the most painful sound I had ever heard, in my years on this earth. Carly rushed into the room, looked at her parents and fell to her knees.

Bella Black died that day. Jacob Black followed three days later. His children said he died of a broken heart. Some of you might find that to be foolish nonsense, but not me.

They had loved each other so deeply and so passionately and even if her life had ended tragically, Isabella Marie Swan Black had lived; and loved well.

**I just wanted to say thank you **toeveryone who tookthe time to read and review...you guys totally rocked. I'm sorry that this was only 16 chapters..I really wish it could have been longer...but I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope you read some of the other stuff I write...and in case you were wondering...there's going to be a sorta part two..between Carly and Edward in the near future.


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